Improving Service Quality in Healthcare

This assignment examines the importance of service quality in healthcare organizations. It analyzes various methods for improving service quality, including personal interviews with employees, feedback forms, surveys, and measuring tools. The document highlights the impact of these strategies on both users (e.g., aged citizens) and care providers, emphasizing the need for a human-centered approach to healthcare.

Assignment
MANAGING QUALITY
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Introduction
This article is about the understanding the standards existing in the health and social care
industries. How are they used to measure the quality? Different approaches used to implement
the quality of the system. This article will also help to identify the barrier in the process and what
are the impacts. It will also help to suggest various ways improve the quality of the service of
health and social care industries and help the reader to evaluate their service regarding both
external and internal services.
LO1
1.1 Stakeholders perspective regarding quality in the field of Social and Health care
Who are stakeholders?
Stakeholders are all the people who are directly or indirectly connected to the
organization. They are basically categorised into two types: internal and external. Internal
stakeholders are owner of firm, employees, managers of different departments, etc. Whereas
external ones are customers, government bodies, etc. It is important for business entities to
satisfy every stakeholder in their perspective (Huotari et al. 2016, p.869). are different
stakeholders whose perspective for quality differs. For a social and health care field, the major
stakeholders are owners, government bodies, staff, patients, etc. Quality related perspective of
different type of stakeholders are explained below:
 Internal stakeholders- These types of stakeholders involve owners, who link quality with
the business value of their entity. They are highly concerned with the amount of money
to be spend to attain quality, thus they always try to possess effective and efficient
operations so that they can reduce the expenses associated with the quality enhancement.
The employees seek quality in their job security, promotion, dignity etc. (Mohammed et
al., 2016). Whereas for managers, it is the effectiveness of their employees.
 External Stakeholder- The most crucial external stakeholders are the patients. For them,
quality have many measures, it involves the services offered to them, price associated
with those services, behaviour of staff with the, way organisation treats their relatives,
etc. It is the most significant and challenging task of an entity to satisfy the patients.

1.2 Role that are played by the CQC and external organizations in setting standards towards
Social and Health care
External organizations/agencies look after the health and social care provider by monitoring and
supporting the facilities. The agencies play a very important role in providing a good standard in
the health care facilities. Several regular inspections are done like testing of sanitization, nursing
care, availability of tools, safety measurement, and everything that happens in the Anchor care
trust so to make sure that the nursing care they set meets the quality standards. If they find any
fault in the standards they set from the standards that they receive they guide and fix those faulty
standards. Other than setting those standards they also train the health care providers like the
doctors, nurses, matrons, etc., (Jiang et al. 2016, p.116). The agencies have the latest updated
information or trends regarding the health care and they set this trends in the trust center. The
external agencies also work with other agencies to have balance in the implementation of quality
standards of health care.
Some examples of agencies those work to set good standards in health care are:
a. Health-care inspectors: These are the people who keeps constant monitoring and inspecting
about all the activities within the facilities. After doing its tasks, these people announce its
findings to the health care facilities to improve their services.
b. CQC (Care Quality Commission): These the UK based institutions which provides regulatory
standards to the health and social care providers. These regulators ensure that all the home care
systems and day care hospitals etc., provide an efficient, safe and high service quality all the
time.
c. MHRA are the government based agencies that provides medicines and healthcare products and
devices including medicines in effective and safe manner. These agencies also ensures that all
the health care facilities improve its standards and quality including safety measures (Allen et al.
2016, p.25).
Overall all the external agencies have the power to provide and assist all the health care facilities
with important factors that include improving their safety measures in all the possible ways. In
some case the government systems and the external agencies work together to provide a better
health-care facility to the patients.

1.3 Potential effect of reduced quality of services and the adverse effect on health and social care
stakeholders
As per Mosadeghrad and Woldemichael(2017, p.109) decrease in service quality of any health
and social care will leave a negative impact on a patient, service worker, or any kind of
stakeholders. If there is any kind of compromise with the quality in health care due to improper
management then it could lead to negative consequences.
Most important thing to note is health will be the sufferer. Patient Satisfaction will decrease and
expectations will not be fulfilled. The outcome will be poor if the patient safety isn’t guaranteed.
As per the case study few employees work only for vocational purposes and tend to shift their
job in case they get being paid better. So, identifying what the staff’s intention is very necessary
and proper action should be taken on them.
Whenever, a regulatory body find an inappropriate standard are followed by the health care then
proper steps should be taken against them. Warning notices to provided, charging penalties,
suspension and license/registration cancellation which will be the closing of a service provider in
extreme cases.
The standards which are given by the regulatory bodies should be properly followed by the
health care professionals in an effective and safe manner. The regulatory professionals will keep
an eye on the quality of training that may put patient’s life at risk.

LO2
2.1 Existing standard in HSC industry
The HSC or health social care raised some standard for the health and social care industry in
order to improve the quality of their service which they provide to their users (Bowling and A.
2014, p.21). The quality standards were formally announced in the year of 2006 in 14th march.
These standards can be considered as a set of rules which every organization were bound to
follow in this health care industry. The organization had to carry a legal liability to make sure
that the service which they were providing to the users. The lists of these standards are given as
follows;
 The HSC were given certain measurements using which they can measure their
performance index and check their development.
 The service must be informed about the service they going to be provided.
 HSC should be helped when they are implementing their duty in respective of
human rights and equality.
 Enable the evaluation of quality and safety of HSC service.
The task of delivering quality service is becoming complex with passing days (Mertens
and D.M. 2014, p.14). Now in this scenario if the authority takes initiative to minimize
this complexity thinking about their service users they will able to ful-fil the foundation
of the industry, satisfying the user at any cost, the organization definitely have a
competitive edge. In order to provide a superior standard of the service five themes are
used. They are given below;
 Developing a corporate leader and an organization which is liable towards their
users.
 A risk-free and an effective care should be given to the service users.
 A customer tends to retain their business relation with those organizations which
are very much approachable and offers a flexible service. So, these two attributes
are very much appreciated.
 Nourishing and aiding to quick improve health of the users is next theme on this
list.

 Users should be informed about the service through constant communication.
This is the last theme on this list (Posavac and E. 2015, p.9).
These standards are used in two different ways to measure the quality;
 By inspecting the service provided by the HSC.
 Regulating the service provided by HSC organization.
2.2 Various proposition for the application of quality services
Discussing various methods to get a quality service. Some of them are listed below;
 Quality system; by using measurement models in health and social care setting the
quality system is used as a tool to enhance the concept of an index of quality. The use of
a quality system in a health care environment is a reliable tool to explain the growth of
quality service. It uses an investigation approach and a structural equation model to
examine the service quality (Tarquinio et al. 2015, p.40).
 Methods used to apply the quality system in quality service; in the health and social
industry TQM is constantly interchanged with CQI as it is used to develop clinical
practice and its concept is there is a huge an opportunity to improve the facilities in the
health and social care industries (Oliver and R.L.. 2014, p.25).
 Benefits of applying quality system; when a rugged quality system is injected in the
organisations, it helps to review its practices in a systematic way. A good quality system
has the ability to give the organisation to control both external and internal factors.
2.3 Potential threats while delivering quality services in the health and social care services
If the health care and social institutions fail to meet the expectation of the service user, then the
user will be left with bad experience. This is a major drawback for the healthcare services. In the
end, if the desired result is not being able to provide and the user feels that are not getting value
for their money this will also be a huge threat to the reputation of the organization (Fink and A.
2014. p.12). Even the lack of proper insurance can be a potential barrier as the user might not be
comfortable to do business with the organisation. List of other threats or barriers are given
below;
a) The rapid change in technology is the single biggest threat to the health care
organisations. These new technologies often come with huge price tags which many

organisations are unable to afford. Due to the lack of cutting edge technology, the
opinion of the service user may rapidly degrade about the organisation.
b) The second point in our list is related very closely to the first point. Lack of financial
support or uneven flow of capital. Now it is a well-known fact that the capital is the life
line of any industry. When the flow of capital is uneven within the organisation it is
unable to equip itself with a proper instrument. To compensate this problem many health
and the social organisation rely on donation which is yet again a very unstable and
unreliable way of gathering funds which hamper the growth of the organisation (Wimo et
al. 2014, p.310).
c) Lack of enthusiastic employees and lack of proper training upsets the growth of the
organisation. The employees serve as a bridge between the service user and the provider.
If the user is not treated well by the staffs of the organisation then they would not give a
second thought about terminating their relation and the intension of doing business with
that particular organisation.

Lo3
3.1 Measuring the efficiency of systems, procedures and practices that are being used in HSC
setting to achieve quality services that are being offered to the users
Rules and regulations must be followed because safety depends on them. These are usually
generated from the governmental bodies of the nation as per the defined norms of a particular
industrial sector. The employers are required to follow the same where different hospitals have
distinct set of their own rules and regulation as per the rules set by NHS where it is important to
fulfill the exact needs of the service users.
As the case reveals that service is not being provided in better manner by the service users.
Additionally, if the service users are not getting better services the they are having the probable
chances to move from one service units to others in order to get better services at a reasonable
price. In the present context, to evaluate the effectiveness of various strategies and policies, the
organisation selected is RUH and Sam is the new care home manager of RUH. Additionally,
there are different policies and the procedures’ that are required for Sam to follow and they are
as follows.
RUH action plan
According to this fact it states that the service providers must keep a proper document among
themselves and these documents have to be submitted in the time of treatment. Additionally, if
service users are suffering from particular diseases then in that case there must be valid
documents and which shows that the service providers are affected by these diseases. It is
therefore on relating to the present given scenario of Sam as a newly appointed service provider
is required to maintain proper documents for the wellbeing of the patients in accordance to RUH
action plan. This will further assist in provisioning exact treatment to the service user as per his
or her actual needs.
Monitoring of the performances
Additionally, when service providers are doing their work then their services must be monitored.
Additionally, if the works are not being monitored effectively then it will be unknown by the
management that who are working effectively. Additionally, as Sam have been appointed as the
manager then it will be his duty to monitor the works of others and if he fails to monitor the

works then the loopholes will not be found. Further, this system is helpful in evaluating the
overall effectiveness of the entire departments and units of the Bath. It also looks after the well-
being of patients and their needs and thus helps in improving them leading to high satisfaction of
patients, consequently there will be increase in the business value of the RUH Bath.
Role played by NICE
Additionally, this body is one of the regulatory body in the healthcare sectors and this body
reveals the fact that those who are admitted in hospital they must be treated in proper manner
and their needs must be fulfilled by the service providers. Additionally, as Sam is the manager of
this home care so it will be his duty to see that every service users are getting proper nutritious
foods and their needs and desires are being fulfilled. Additionally, service providers must behave
properly with the service users so that they don’t feel that they are being neglected. They had
also proposed hydration bundle policy to record the total amount of intake and output of water
from the patient's body. This strategy helps in controlling the patient's condition and monitors
his/her safety.
RUH and NMC- NMC stands for national midwifery council, it has certain sets of certified
policies for the health care entities. According to these strategies it is essential to maintain all the
records of patients to measure the effectiveness of their treatment. RUH strictly follows these
standard sets proposed by NMC.
The perspective of quality varies widely with the different opinions of stakeholders. In
context to quality of a healthcare home the orientations are as follows:
 Patients- They seek for effective treatment and better services which aids in their fast
recovery. Further, people are attracted towards the minimum cost of treatment.
 Investors: For them, the parameter to judge the quality is the productivity and business
profit. They seek for maximum revenue with minimum investments.
In order to attain these quality perspectives Sam should buy economic services so that he
can make them available to the patients at low cost. Also, it is required to pay attention on the
nursing work provided to the diligent. In addition to achieve more productivity, Sam should
prepare patient-centered strategies. More patients will be attracted if the entity will provide this
type of services.

3.2 Assessment of other factors that impacts upon the attainment of quality in the HSC service
Moreover, there exists different strategies which must be taken by Sam in order to improve
the service of the health care and they are discussed in paragraph
Training of the employee
Additionally, those who are appointed as the service providers then it will be the duty of Sam to
see that the employees who are providing services to users, must be well trained and if they are
not well trained then they will be unable to provide services in better manner. Additionally, this
will lower the efficiency level of the employees and also the profit margin. Additionally, it must
be checked by management team that they must appoint better employees. Similarly, they must
be able to face different situations that are being created by service users.
Better technologies
Additionally, when service care sectors are taking assistance of better technologies then there
services are being improved and most of service users can show their trust and confidence on
these sectors. Additionally, it will also create positive impacts in the mind of individuals that
they will get better service from here and this will help to recover service users quickly.
3.3 Suggestion to improve the quality of service in HSC organization
The health and social care services have improved dramatically since few decades. This
improvement would not have been possible without the aids from the government. Not only the
government but few private organisations have taken an initiative to increase the quality of the
services provided by these organisations. Numerous initiatives have been undertaken to improve
the quality of these organisation even in the grass root level (Millar et al. 2013, p.931).
Various methods that are being used for the improvement of quality in HCS are as follows:
 1. Implementation of quality assessment measures- Quality assessment measures play
the key role in improving effectiveness of an organisation. This technique can be used to
determine the risks associated with the organisation and are also helpful in evacuating
them.
 2. Training and development programs for employees- It is really very important to
provide all the staff members with the essential skills they required for the health care. It
is foremost duty of a manager organise various training sessions, workshops for
development to improvise the employees working there.

 3.Time management- Delayed functioning is always harmful for both the internal and the
external stakeholders. In case of internal stakeholders, they affect the effectiveness of
their business and for patients they are really unwanted. Thus, to improve the quality it is
essential for an entity to be time-efficient.

LO4
4.1 Different forms for the analysis of HSC services regarding both internal as well as external
outlooks
This is critically important to evaluate the service quality from internal and external
perspective. To measure the services of health and social care services following methods
are mainly followed:
 Questionnaire: This method can be used for both type of stakeholders. Questionnaire is a
good way of evaluating the satisfaction level of both, the customers and the employees.
These questionnaires will differ depending upon the type of stakeholder. Since. this is
organised for both, the employees and the customers thus, organisation can understand
the perspective of both.
 Personal Individual: With the help of personal interviews with the employees, entity can
examine the insight mistakes done by the internal stakeholders and can make strategies to
solve them and imply on the business to avoid such more problems.
 Feedback: Feedback is an excellent tool which can be used to improve the quality of the
service. Proper feedback forms should be maintained to make the job easier. The service
users must be given the form and should be asked to write their genuine experience they
had doing business with them. The feedback perhaps the best tool to improve the quality
of their service (Grembowski and D. 2015, p.20).
 The thought of improving the quality just by doing an inspection. Apart from maintaining
feedback form another great tool to improve the quality of service is by doing survey will
also serve as a good supplement for the purpose of improving the service quality.
 Lastly having a measuring tool to analyse its successes to provide a quality service itself
is a major tool.
4.2 Discussing about the effectiveness of the service providers in assessing the procedure of
service quality
After evaluating and according to the study, there would be a major impact on both user as well
as care providers. We will discuss this with an example of an aged citizen who wants to get
treated and served in a hospitable way. He wants to have the feeling of a home in the hospital.

He wants the staff to listen to him by fulfilling his requirements. Old age people are the ones
who carry pride and do not ask for help all the time so as to show they still are able to do things
on their own. Quality care according to them is when they are able to do things according to their
freedom without any interference. They feel conventional ways of treatment are better than the
high technology gadgets (Killaspy et al. 2017, p.157). So, they rate service quality according to
these issues. A care provider thinks a good quality service is the good relationship between a
nurse and a patient. To achieve this a care provider wants the patient to trust them completely
which is only possible by the good understanding between them. Good bonding is achieved if
the care provider understands the mental and physical state of the patient and if the and also the
patient should trust the care provider fully. The overall evaluation system can be made better
through this. These methods of effective improvement will be advantageous for both the parties
i.e. the care workers and also the customers.
CONCLUSION
The health and social care service are a very noble organization. Their service is required to
improve the health and led a good life. So, it is very important for them to improve their quality
of service. The health and social care organisation must not develop the concept and mentality of
making a profit only rather they should try to connect with their customers in a more humanly
way as possible.