A medical centre needs a written cleaning schedule that is based on risk. It should say which surfaces are cleaned, how often, with what product and method, and who is responsible. Most surfaces need neutral detergent and water. Disinfectant is added where blood, body substances or a known or suspected infection are involved. Cleaning should be recorded so that you can show an accreditation surveyor it actually happened.
This guide explains what the RACGP Standards and national guidance ask for. It gives a checklist you can adapt for your practice and lists the questions to ask before you hand cleaning to a contractor.
General practices in Australia are accredited under the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme against the RACGP Standards for general practices. The RACGP released the 6th edition in August 2026. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) says accreditation under the NGPA Scheme currently still uses the 5th edition, and that transition arrangements for the 6th edition will be published later. Check with your accrediting agency which edition your next assessment will use.
In the 6th edition, cleaning sits under Criterion CG9 – Infection prevention and control, including reprocessing. It asks practices to:
The RACGP’s Infection prevention and control guidelines (section 9, cleaning, laundry and waste) explain how to meet this. The rest of this checklist draws on that section and on the ACSQHC guide for small health services.
The RACGP guidelines say practices must have a cleaning schedule that ensures the practice is cleaned systematically and appropriately. For each item the schedule should name:
The agent, method and frequency depend on the risk of transmission. The RACGP lists three things to weigh for each surface:
The ACSQHC adds that different areas in one facility need different schedules. It also says the schedule should be reviewed whenever infection risk changes, for example during an outbreak or building work.
The RACGP distinguishes two kinds of cleaning:
A good schedule makes both visible. It sets out what the cleaner does each night and what clinical and reception staff do between patients.
Use the tables below as a starting point. They are an example. They are not a national standard. Adjust them to your own risk assessment and your IPC policy. The ACSQHC guide for small health services says frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, light switches and shared clinical equipment should be cleaned at least daily, or more often. It says lower-risk areas such as floors, walls, administration areas and staff rooms are typically cleaned daily or weekly with neutral detergent.
| Item | Typical method | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Examination couch and pillow (covers changed) | Detergent; disinfectant if contaminated or the patient is infectious | Change paper or linen covers after each patient |
| Blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, shared small equipment | Detergent or detergent/disinfectant wipe | Detergent wipes suit spot cleaning only, not large surfaces |
| Patient chair and desk edge in consult room | Detergent; disinfectant after an infectious patient | This is the RACGP’s opportunistic cleaning example |
| Visible spills | Spill procedure (see below) | Respond promptly |
| Area | Tasks |
|---|---|
| Reception and waiting room | Door handles, push plates, light switches, counter tops, EFTPOS area, chair arms, check-in kiosk; empty general waste; spot-clean glass |
| Consultation and treatment rooms | Horizontal surfaces, sinks and taps, soap and paper towel dispensers, door handles, bins (general waste only, unless agreed otherwise); damp-mop hard floors |
| Patient and staff toilets | Toilets, basins, taps, flush buttons, grab rails, dispensers, floors; restock |
| Staff kitchen | Benches, sink, fridge handle, microwave and kettle handles, tables |
| Floors throughout | Vacuum carpet; mop hard floors with a clean, dry mop head |
| Area | Tasks |
|---|---|
| All rooms | Low-touch surfaces: skirting boards, window sills, chair bases, cupboard fronts |
| Clinical rooms | Outer surfaces of trolleys and fridges (contents and internal shelves stay with clinical staff) |
| Waiting room | Wipe toys or remove them if they cannot be cleaned; clean magazine racks and brochure stands |
| Task | Notes |
|---|---|
| High dusting, vents, light fittings | Clean high to low so dust doesn’t fall on surfaces already cleaned |
| Privacy curtains | Change or launder on a set cycle and whenever visibly soiled |
| Carpet deep clean, hard floor scrub | Book outside clinic hours |
| Isolation or “respiratory” room | Extra cleaning after use, as CG9 requires |
Reprocessing of reusable instruments (cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising) is not environmental cleaning. CG9 covers it as a separate part of infection prevention and control. Keep it out of the cleaner’s scope unless your policy says otherwise.
The RACGP guidelines say:
When choosing a disinfectant, the RACGP lists the manufacturer’s kill claim, the wet-contact time, compatibility with your surfaces, safety and PPE, ease of use and value for money. The ACSQHC notes that organisations assessed against the NSQHS Standards must use disinfectants listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). For a plain-English explanation of the terms, see the difference between cleaning and sanitising.
Widely used infection-control practice for cleaning tools includes:
The ACSQHC says cleaning equipment should be labelled and used only for cleaning. Its aged care infection prevention guide also recommends colour-coding reusable equipment to restrict it to specific areas. The same approach works in a practice: separate cloths and mops for toilets, clinical rooms and general areas, so that equipment is not carried from a dirty area to a clean one. Write your colour code into the schedule so that every cleaner, including relief staff, follows it.
The RACGP guidelines say blood and other body substances need to be treated as potentially infectious, and that contamination must be managed promptly. Practices must have a spill kit readily available. CG9 requires the spill procedure to be in your IPC policy and known to the team.
The RACGP says detergent alone may be enough for very small spills that only need spot-cleaning. Other spills need disinfectant as well, as part of a two-step process. That covers small spills under 10 cm, large spills of 10 cm or more, any spill on a surface that touches skin, and any spill that involves a potentially serious pathogen.
Decide in advance:
Sharps and clinical waste have their own rules. Agree in writing whether your cleaner handles clinical waste bins or only general and recycling waste.
Keep a cleaning record. It shows when each scheduled clean was completed and any extra cleaning after spills. The ACSQHC says environmental cleaning programs should include a way to audit whether cleaning is effective, with audit frequency based on the risk of each area.
In practice that means:
Records like these are what a surveyor can check when they ask how your practice meets CG9.
Many practices hand scheduled cleaning to a contractor. The difference between medical and office cleaning shows up in method: dry mops, area-specific cloths, detergent before disinfectant, and records. The ACSQHC suggests looking at three things with contract cleaners: how they are oriented to your organisation, what training their employer has given them, and who supplies the equipment and products. Use these questions when you compare healthcare cleaning companies:
Training and induction
Method and products
Scope and responsibilities
Quality and accountability
A provider that asks to walk through the practice and see your IPC policy before quoting is more likely to work to your system.
No. The Standards require a written policy and a cleaning schedule. The RACGP guidelines explain how to set frequencies by risk, weighing how often a surface is touched, the likely pathogens and how vulnerable patients are. The ACSQHC guide for small health services says frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned at least daily, or more often.
There are two layers. Practice staff clean the couch, shared equipment and other surfaces a patient has touched between patients, adding disinfectant after an infectious patient or contamination. The cleaner then does the scheduled clean of the room, usually after hours. Set the exact frequency in your risk-based schedule.
Flush buttons, taps, door handles and grab rails are frequently touched, so the ACSQHC guidance puts them on at least a daily clean, or more often in a busy practice. Use separate, colour-coded cloths and mops for toilets so the equipment isn’t carried into clinical or general areas. Any blood or body-substance contamination is handled under your spill procedure.
The RACGP released it in August 2026. At the time of writing, the ACSQHC says NGPA accreditation still uses the 5th edition and that arrangements for the 6th edition will be provided in due course. Check with your accrediting agency.
If you’re reviewing your cleaning before an accreditation visit, or replacing a cleaner who doesn’t work to your schedule, B&K Services provides medical centre cleaning in Sydney, Wollongong and the Illawarra and Nowra and the Shoalhaven. We start with a free walk-through of your practice. Then we agree in writing which tasks sit with your team and which with ours, along with frequency and timing, before work begins. Scheduled quality checks follow once cleaning is under way. Our teams complete WHS induction, safe chemical handling training and site-specific risk assessments. See how we work, or request a free quote on 1300 136 954.