Benchmarking

The *National Mental Health Plan 2003 -2008 * identified priorities that would guide the next phase of information development that aims to focus on fostering a service delivery culture in which information is used to support decisions at all levels and encourage quality improvement initiatives. It is envisaged that:

• data is used routinely to contribute both to improved clinical practice and service management; and
• benchmarking is established as the norm, and is used in a quality improvement cycle, with all services having access to regular reports on their performance relative to similar services.

Although the National Mental Health Plan 2009 – 2014 is curently being developed, the National Mental Health Policy 2008, released in 2009, notes that “….Continued efforts to improve the monitoring of service quality must be encouraged. The importance of listening and responding to the consumer and carer experience to inform service development should be recognised. Quality assurance programs, benchmarking activities and independent accreditation initiatives should be fostered, both locally and nationally to improve accountability….”

The seminal document that underpins benchmarking within the mental heath sector is Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Mental Health Services. This report proposed a set of thirteen key performance indicators (KPIs) that could be constructed based on available data collected by all Australian States and territories. These KPIs were used in the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project and in the Forensic Mental Health Services Benchmarking, both facilitated by AMHOCN.