Managing Quality in Health and Social Care

This assignment focuses on managing quality in health and social care services. It discusses different perspectives, strategies for achieving quality, evaluation of systems, and potential barriers. It also explores the impact of poor service quality on stakeholders.

Managing
Quality in
Health & Social
Care

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK A.........................................................................................................................................................3
Perspectives in Health and Social Care....................................................................................................3
Role of external agencies in setting standards........................................................................................4
Impact of poor service quality on health and social care stakeholders...................................................4
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................................5
Standards in Health and Social Care for measuring quality.....................................................................5
Approaches of implementing quality systems.........................................................................................6
Barriers to delivery of quality health and social care services.................................................................7
TASK C.........................................................................................................................................................8
Effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures..................................................................................8
Factors affecting achievement of quality in health and social care services............................................9
Ways in which health and social care service can improve in quality......................................................9
TASK D.......................................................................................................................................................10
Methods for evaluating quality in health and social care......................................................................10
Impact of involvement of users of services...........................................................................................11
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Heath and Social Care refer to the services which the health and social care workers
provide to different people in a country (Adams-Graves and Bronte-Jordan, 2016). These are
services which are provided in order to take care of people when they are in need and to ensure
that their various needs and requirements are effectively fulfilled. Thus it becomes quite
important from the point of view of the society that such services are provided regularly and
within the prescribed time whenever there is a requirement to avail such services. In this
assignment, a detailed focus will be made on understanding of different perspectives,
understanding of strategies for achieving quality, evaluation of systems, policies and procedures.
Additionally, understanding of methodologies for evaluating quality in these services will be
made as a part of this project.
TASK A
There are a lot of perspectives in Health and Social Care (Carroll, Kennedy and
Richardson, 2016). They have to be identified by the institutions that provide these services to
the people. This is important as this will help in providing of these services in a much better
manner.
Perspectives in Health and Social Care
In the terms of Health and Social Care there is a presence of various types of
stakeholders. Thus it becomes quite important for the healthcare and social workers to consider
the demands, needs and requirements of the stakeholders. The stakeholders here have certain
perspectives regarding quality. These are explained as follows-
Availability of beds- The stakeholders in the health and social care sector require that beds must
be made available to the patients as per their need and requirement (Cheng and et.al., 2016). This is so
because the patients have to be attended quickly as per their needs and requirements. Thus for good
hospitals it is crucial that a sufficient availability of beds is there to treat the patients.
Trained medical staff- In the health and social care sector there is a need and requirement of
trained medical staff. In this way the patients can be treated more effectively and efficiently and they will
be able to ensure that they get rid of their ailments and diseases.
Good social agencies- The social agency which deals in the providing of social services for
enhancing the value for the society and contributing towards the social development of people has to
make sure that it has good people who can understand the needs and requirements of people in the society
and can work accordingly.
Social standards- The social agency which is providing social services has to ensure that it meets
out the social standards which have been set by the society for its services. By meeting them quality can
be ensured in the services.

Role of external agencies in setting standards
The particular role which is played by external agencies so that they are able to set various
standards is as follows-
Identification of service parameters- The external agencies can identify the service parameters
which have been set by the health and social care service providers to provide their services to the people
(Dartau, 2018). With the help of these parameters they can make sure that they can measure the
performance and whether the standards have been met or not.
Identification of needs and requirements of people- The external agencies make sure that the
needs and requirements of people are assessed effectively and efficiently. Therefore in this way they are
able to ensure that the expectations of these people regarding the quality are also identified so that
appropriate actions can be taken. The hospitals and social service providers can be made aware about the
expectations of people regarding quality so that they can facilitate improvement.
Understanding the condition of health and social care services- The external agencies have to also
look at the condition of health and social care services in the country. Thus the standards for the
facilitation of improvement have to be set accordingly which will be very helpful in the achievement of
the goals and objectives. In this way the needs and requirements of people can be met and the quality in
the health and social care service can be maintained effectively and efficiently.
Impact of poor service quality on health and social care stakeholders
When there is poor service provided to the health and social care stakeholders it creates an impact
on them. This impact has been explained as follows-
Reduction in satisfaction level- When the health and social care services are bad in quality this
can reduce the satisfaction level of the stakeholders (de Melo and et.al., 2020). This therefore creates a
bad impression of the institutes who are dealing in providing such kind of services to the people and thus
affects their image in the society. Thus they may not prefer to avail such services from such institutes in
the future which therefore can affect them.
Impact on goodwill- Bad quality of health and social care services creates an impact on the
goodwill of the institutions providing such services. Therefore in this way it creates a bad impact on the
reputation of these institutions in front of the people. Thus this creates a bad name of the institutions
providing such services to the people. Thus the people may not prefer to avail services from such
institutes in the future.
Negative feedback- When there is a bad quality in health and social care services it can lead
towards a negative feedback from the stakeholders. This can happen due to the reason that they may not
like the services which have been provided to them after they have paid money for it.
Negative review in the society- When there is a bad quality of health and social care services
which is provided to the people then this can lead towards negative review in the society. It therefore can
create an impact on the reputation level of such service providers and thus can affect their image.

From the above essay, it can be concluded that Managing Quality in Health and Social
Care is necessary so that enhanced quality can contribute towards satisfaction of people. Thus it
becomes quite essential from the point of view of the people that they can be provided with good
quality of services in health and social care sector. There are different perspectives in health and
social care regarding quality. There is a particular role which external agencies play in setting of
standards. Also, if poor service quality is provided in health and social care then this puts a bad
impact on the stakeholders.
TASK B
Different type of strategies can be used for the purpose of achieving quality in health and
social care services (Gardner, Linderman and McFadden, 2018). Thus by making the use of these
strategies the health and social service providers can make sure that they are able to enhance the
overall quality successfully. In this report, a detailed discussion will be made on the explanation
of various standards in health and social care for measurement of quality, evaluation of different
approaches for implementing quality systems. Additionally, the analysis of potential barriers
towards delivery of quality health and social care services will be made as a part of this report.
Standards in Health and Social Care for measuring quality
There are different types of standards which have been set so that health and social care
services are provided in the right manner to the people. The following standards have been set
for the purpose of measurement of quality-
 Regulatory authorities- There are different regulatory authorities which take care of
setting the different types of rules and regulations for health and social care service
providers (Kalaja, Myshketa and Scalera, 2016). By doing this it is ensured that they are
bound by them so that they do not compromise with the quality of services which they
are providing to the people. These regulatory authorities have the permission from the
government to take the necessary action if they find that the quality of health and social
care services is not according to the standards which have been set for them. Thus in this
way they not only monitor the quality but also lead towards an improvement in it.
 Regular audit- Regular audit for health and social care service providers helps a lot in
ensuring that quality is maintained in these services (King and Slattery, 2020). Therefore,
in this way the problems and issues which the people are facing while availing these
services is also identified which therefore helps in improving these services.
 Complaints- People have been provided with the authority of lodging a complaint if they
do not think that the services which are being provided to them are good in quality
(McPake and Hanson, 2016). Therefore in this way they can lodge complaints and
therefore in this way quality can be maintained in health and social care services.

 Taking regular feedback- People have to make sure that they give regular feedback
after availing the health and social care services from the respective institutions. In this
way appropriate quality in these services can be maintained which can help in the
satisfaction of people as improvements can be made by the institutions in their services if
it is found necessary which will therefore help in providing good quality services to the
people in the future.
Approaches of implementing quality systems
Different types of approaches can be used in order to implement the quality systems in
health and social care services. Some of these approaches are explained as follows-
 Setting aims and objectives- It is important for the health and social care service
providers to set relevant aims and objectives for providing their services to the people
(Meroni, and et.al., 2019). When they set appropriate aims and objectives this results in
identifying the quality system which can be used to measure the quality appropriately.
 Setting benchmarks and standards- When benchmarks and standards are set for health
and social care service providers they are motivated to perform at their best to provide the
best services to the people (Mintzberg, 2018). Thus in this way a right quality system can
be identified and therefore the necessary actions can be taken to implement it in the
respective institution to measure the quality and facilitate improvement.
 Training- Training can be provided to the staff in health and social care institutions so
that they are able to perform according to the set benchmarks and standards. In this way
they will be able to give good quality services to the people of the society.
 Parameters for satisfaction- By setting the various types of parameters for the purpose
of satisfaction it can be ensured that the satisfaction level of the people can be effectively
measured. Thus it is quite important from the point of view of health and social care
service providers that they can set these parameters through which the level of
satisfaction of people can be measured and thus the quality system can be implemented
for the measurement of quality. Thus in this way relevant improvement can be made in
quality if it is found necessary which will help a lot in the satisfaction of people who
avail these services.
 Regular measurement of performance- If regular measurement of performance can be
done then it can lead towards the enhancement in the level of performance effectively and
efficiently (Neuhuettler, Ganz, and Liu, 2017). Thus in this way the quality systems can
be implemented in health and social care institutions without problems and issues.
 Making the systems more efficient- By making the systems more efficient the health
and social care institutions can make sure that they are able to maintain good quality
effectively and efficiently. Therefore in this manner the quality systems can be
implemented in health and social care institutions so that the achievement of higher
quality can be done.

 Taking the opinion of workers- By taking the opinion of the workers the quality
systems can be checked. This becomes quite important from the point of view of health
and social care institutions so that if there is a need the necessary improvements can be
brought to these systems which will be very helpful in maintaining the quality of services
which are being provided to the people. Thus taking the opinion of workers can help a lot
in making the quality systems even better.
Barriers to delivery of quality health and social care services
There are various barriers to providing good health and social care services to the people.
Their presence creates an impact providing of good health and social care services to the
different people within the society (Peters, Kallmuenzer and Buhalis, 2019). These barriers are
explained as follows-
Barriers to delivery of quality health services-
Internal barriers-
 Poor existing quality measures- Due to poor existing quality measures the quality of
health services provided to the people can be low which can create a barrier in providing
good services to the people (Stander, 2016). If the standards and parameters for
measuring quality are not accurate then quality assessment cannot be done properly.
Certain institutions have no parameters to set so that they are able to measure their
overall quality of services. Thus in this way this can create problems in providing the
required satisfaction to them.
 Communication and governance- Due to poor communication and governance the
quality of health services which are provided to the people are degraded and thus good
services are not able to reach the people. Therefore this creates issues related with
communication of the needs and requirements of the people with the authorities which
therefore affects the services provided to them.
External barriers-
 Lack of attention- There is sometimes lack of attention by the government towards the
state of health service institutions. This therefore affects the healthcare services which are
provided by them to the people. The government overlooks certain factors which are
important in providing quality of health and social care services to the people.
 High cost- The healthcare services which are being provided to the people are high in
their cost and thus in this way affect the people. The government also overlooks this
factor which creates problems as many poor people cannot access basic healthcare
facilities. Therefore this high cost of health services acts as a barrier in providing of these
services to the common people.
Barriers to delivery of quality social care services-
Internal barriers-

 Lack of cooperation- Due to the lack of cooperation between people who are providing
social care services the quality of these services is affected and this in turn is not able to
satisfy the people (Suhail and Azhar, 2016).
 Lack of resources- Due to the lack of resources available for carrying out social work an
impact is created on the quality of such services which are provided to the people.
Therefore in this way this creates an impact on the people as they are not provided good
services as a result.
External barriers-
 Rules and regulations- Due to the presence of various types of rules and regulations
certain institutions are not able to provide good social care services to the people (Taylor,
2020). Thus in this way good social care services are not able to reach the people.
 Complexities of rules and regulations- The rules and regulations which have been set
by the government have several complexities in them which in turn affect the people.
Therefore in this way good social services are not able to reach the people.
From the above report, it can be concluded that different types of strategies can be used
to maintain the desired quality in health and social care services. They are very useful so that
these services are able to reach a wide range of people and can ensure their satisfaction. Thus it
is important to use methods for applying these strategies. There are various types of standards
which can be used for the measurement of quality in these services. Different approaches can be
used for implementing quality systems. There are various types of potential barriers to the
delivery of quality health and social care services.
TASK C
In Health and Social Care Services, there is a presence of various types of systems,
policies and procedures (Teasdale and et.al., 2020). Following all of them can result in providing
good services to the people which results in higher value for them. In this report, focus will be
made on evaluation of effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures, analysis of other
factors. Additionally, suggestion of ways in which health and social care services can improve its
quality will be discussed as a part of this report.
Effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures
Different types of systems, policies and procedures can be used so that quality in health
and social care services can be achieved. These are explained as follows-
 Regular audit of services- Regular audit of services can help the health and social care
service providers in identifying the problems and issues which are being faced by the
people when they avail these service. Also sudden inspection by audit can help in finding
out whether these services are able to fulfill the needs and requirements of the people or

not. If they are not fulfilling the needs and requirements of the people then corrective
steps have to be taken.
 Making the services better- The use of certain types of measures for the purpose of
improving the quality of health and social care services can result in making these
services even better for the people. Thus in this way they will be able to get good services
in a highly effective manner.
 Positive feedback- By using these parameters for improving quality of health and social
cares services a positive feedback can be obtained. This will mean that such institutions
are able to satisfy the people with their services.
Factors affecting achievement of quality in health and social care services
There are a range of factors which affect the achievement of quality in health and social
care services. These are explained as follows-
 Unwillingness towards adaptation- The institutions who provide health and social care
services to the people may be unwilling to adapt quickly to the changes which therefore
affects the quality of services which are provided by them to the people (Uenk and
Telgen, 2019). Thus this becomes an important factor affecting these services.
 Availability of funds- The institutions which are providing these services to the people
can face shortage of funds. Funds are required for the purpose of ensuring that better
services are provided to the people who are availing them so that they can receive value.
Therefore in this way this creates an impact on the financial situation of these institutions
and in turn affects the services which they provide. Thus it is not possible for them to
maintain the desired quality in their services which are provided to the people.
 Lack of clarity- In certain healthcare and social service institutions there is a complete
lack of clarity on the approach which is required to be adopted so that quality in health
and social care services can be maintained (Mohanan, Hay and Mor, 2016). Therefore
from their point of view it can be said that this affects the parameters which have to be
set, the measurement of results and their comparison. Thus in this manner this is an
important factor which has to be considered by the organizations which provide these
services.
Ways in which health and social care service can improve in quality
There are various ways which can be used so that the facilitation of an improvement in
the quality of health and social care service can be done. These are explained as follows-
 Total Quality Management- TQM is a process through which the errors are detected in
the processes and thus rectification techniques and methods can be used so that they are
removed. In health and social care, its use is essential to make sure that the errors in the
processes and operations can be identified and thus steps and measures can be taken to
remove them to allow smooth functioning of the institutes providing such services.

 Continuous Quality Improvement- Continuous Quality Improvement is a process
through which regular improvements in quality can be made through efforts. In the
context of health and social care its use is important so that the management of the
institutions who provide such services can regularly identify the problems and issues in
quality, functioning as well as the processes. Thus in this way the appropriate steps can
be taken so that the level of quality is improved.
 Management Leadership- It means that the managers have to lead from the front and
display their leadership qualities so that the organizations providing health and social care
services can benefit a lot by providing quality services to the people. They have to make
sure that there are clear goals and objectives regarding quality and there is regular
monitoring of achievement of these goals and objectives.
 Involvement of people- The staff members of the organizations providing health and
social care services to the people can be involved by ensuring that they are given
particular parameters to work on and their suggestions to improve quality are given
importance.
From the above report, it can be concluded that evaluation of systems, policies and
procedures is important in health and social care services. There is a particular effectiveness of
them in the institutions providing these services. There are also certain factors which influence
the achievement of quality in these services. Also, there are various ways in which these services
can improve in quality if the management of the institutions uses certain type of techniques and
methods.
TASK D
Different types of methods can be used to evaluate quality in health and social care
service (Wiles and et.al., 2019). Thus their usage is quite important from the point of view of the
firms providing these services because they will help them to enhance and improve their overall
level of quality and thus provide their best services to the people. In this essay, a detailed
discussion on these methods will be made.
Methods for evaluating quality in health and social care
The following methods can be used for this particular purpose-
Questionnaires- A Questionnaire is a document which contains different types of details
regarding in the form of questions which have to be asked to the respondents. These can be direct
questions or questions with multiple choices. In health and social care services this method can
be used as the surveyors can find out the respondents and ask those questions using it and then
using their replies the results can be analyzed and interpreted to derive conclusions and
recommendations.

Focus groups- A Focus Group refers to a small group of people who have detailed
discussions regarding the methods and techniques to be adopted so that their reactions can be
studies closely and their opinion can be used for the purpose of market research (Straiton and
et.al., 2016). Thus In health and social care services their use can be made so that the opinion of
such people can be taken and improvements in quality can be done accordingly.
Interviews- Interview is a method in which a detailed conversation is held with a person.
Using it in-depth details can be easily identified without facing any kind of problems and issues.
In health and social care services the use of Interview can be made so that a detailed
conversation can be held with respondents which will therefore help in assessing their views
regarding the quality of these services. Thus relevant improvements can be made in the quality of
these services accordingly.
Complaints- Complaints refer to the grievances which are made by people regarding the
services they have obtained. By analyzing them, institutions which deal in health and social care
services can identify the area where they have been lacking to improve significantly. Therefore it
is important for these institutions that they take up these complaints seriously and are therefore
able to find a scope for improving their services so that their number of complaints is reduced.
Impact of involvement of users of services
When the users of services are involved in the evaluation process of quality of health and
social care services it creates an impact on the organizations that are providing these services.
This has been explained as follows-
Obtaining of feedback- By obtaining the feedback from the users of health and social care
services the institutions will be able to improve a lot. This allows them to find out shortcomings
and mistakes made so that relevant improvements can be made.
Motivation for the employees- When the users of health and social care services provide
their review regarding the quality of these services this leads towards an increase in the
motivation level of the employees. This is so because there is an enhancement in their level of
motivation as they are encouraged to perform better to meet the needs and requirements of these
people.
Frequent assessment- As compared to the audit inspectors who can only visit once in a
while the quality of health and social care services can be reviewed in a better way by the users
of these services. This also helps in the frequent assessment of the institutions providing these
services which in turn help in enhancing the quality of the services which are being provided to
the people.
Improvement in functioning- When users of health and social care services provide a
detailed review of these services it leads towards an improvement in the overall functioning level
(Cucciniello, Lapsley and Nasi, 2016). Therefore for the users of these services it becomes quite

important that they give their review so that the functions in the organizations providing these
services can work in a better way thereby leading towards enhancement of quality.
Finding out problems- Review from the health and social car service users helps the
institutions providing these services to find out the problems with these services. Therefore, it is
crucial that the problems are regularly checked and assessed and various types of steps can be
taken to ensure their rectification. Thus in this way the institution will be able to enhance its
reputation and goodwill among the people.
Better assessment- People are the ones who avail the health and social care services from
different institutions. Thus they are in a better position to perform an assessment. The reason for
this is that they know better about these services since they avail them frequently. Thus, it can be
said that better assessment can be done by them so that an improvement in quality can be made
by the institutions.
Development of opinion- When the users of various health and social care services
provide their review this enhances their opinion-making abilities. Thus, in this way they can
ensure that by developing these abilities they give judgments about the services provided by
different institutions. This will facilitate a comparison between these institutions and will help a
lot in ensuring that the services of these organizations can be made better and help can be
provided to those people who need it.
From the above essay, it can be concluded that the methods for measuring quality in
health and social care services can be effective. There are various methods which can be used for
this purpose. Also involving users of these services leads towards creation of an impact because
they are in a better position to review them.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Managing Quality in Health & Social
Care Services is a big task which has to be carried out by the different types of institutions that
are providing such services to the people. This is so because the different perspectives of people
regarding these services have to be understood. Thereafter, strategies have to be framed for
providing these services to the people. Also, the use of systems, policies and procedures is
recommended to the institutions for providing these services. Further, there are certain methods
through which the quality of these services can be evaluated.

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