Community Hospital Service

Regulatory requirements

When is a Community Hospital Service licence needed?

You will require a Community Hospital Service licence if you perform any of the following purposes:

• Provide any of the following healthcare services to an inpatient who, having been treated for any disease or trauma or having undergone surgery, needs to receive constant medical oversight by a medical practitioner, for the purpose of assisting the inpatient to regain his or her health or physical functions or providing palliative care to the inpatient:

  • The examination of the inpatient’s body or mind;

  • The assessment of the inpatient’s health;

  • The observation and diagnosis of, and intervention in, the inpatient’s health condition;

  • The treatment of the inpatient for any condition, disability, disease, disorder or injury;

  • The provision of medical care or dental care to the inpatient while the inpatient is being accommodated to receive that care;

  • The performance of either of the following which changes, or is intended to change, the inpatient’s appearance or anatomy:

    • A clinical procedure;

    • An invasive procedure that penetrates beyond the epidermis layer of the inpatient’s skin;

  • The rehabilitatation of an inpatient

• Provide any other healthcare service that is incidental to the provision of a healthcare service mentioned in the paragraphs above, including:

  • The conduct of any simple in vitro diagnostic test on the inpatient; and

  • The conduct of any ultrasound imaging on the inpatient

For the legal definition of a Community Hospital Service, please refer to the First Schedule of the Act.

Applicable Specified Services and Mode of Service Delivery

The only allowable Mode of Service Delivery for Community Hospital Service is permanent premises. The following Specified Services are offered under the Community Hospital Service:

• Blood Transfusion Service

• Collaborative Prescribing Service

The allowable Mode of Service Delivery for Specified Services offered under Community Hospital Service is permanent premises.

Requirements to be a Clinical Governance Officer

Please note that the appointment of a Clinical Governance Officer for a community hospital service is not required.

Licence fee

For Community Hospital Service, the applicable licence fee is

• $2,300 (100 beds or more)

• $1,500 (less than 100 beds)

If you provide a Specified Service (SS), you will have to pay an additional fee on top of the LHS fee. If you offer two SSes, you can pay a bundled fee instead. Please refer to the Tables below for more information on how your licence fee will be calculated.