Acute Hospital Service

When is an Acute Hospital Service licence needed?

You will require an Acute Hospital Service licence if you:

a. Provide any of the following healthcare services to an inpatient to treat a brief but severe episode of illness or any disease or trauma, or during recovery from surgery:

i. The examination of the inpatient’s body or mind;

ii. The assessment of the inpatient’s health;

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

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

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

vi. 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

vii. The treatment of an inpatient who requires antenatal care, intrapartum care or postnatal care.

b. Provide any other healthcare service that is incidental to the provision of a healthcare service mentioned above, including — 

i. The conduct of any simple in vitro diagnostic test on the patient; and

ii. The conduct of any ultrasound imaging on the patient

For the legal definition of an Acute 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 Acute Hospital Service is permanent premises. The following Specified Services are offered under the Acute Hospital Service:

• Collaborative Prescribing Service
• Emergency Department Service
• Proton Beam Therapy
• Radiation Oncology & Radiation Therapy

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

Requirements to be a Clinical Governance Officer

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

Licence Fee

For Acute Hospital Service, the applicable licence fee is

• $9,900 (1,000 beds or more)
• $7,700 (less than 1,000 beds)

If you provide Outpatient Medical Service, Clinical Laboratory Service, Radiological Service, and/or Ambulatory Surgical Centre Service on the same physical premises as the Acute Hospital Service, you will not need to pay any additional licence fee for any of the Licensable Healthcare Services listed above.

If you provide Specified Services (SS), an additional SS approval fee will apply. The SS approval fee applicable depends on the SS category (i.e., “simple” or “complex” SS). The Table below shows the categorisation of SSes under the Acute Hospital Service.

If you offer more than one simple or two complex 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.

For Acute Hospital Service Providers with 1,000 beds or more

For Acute Hospital Service Providers with less than 1,000 beds