Enhancing Quality in Health and Social Care: Strategies for Improvement

The importance of quality in health and social care services is emphasized, with various ways to enhance quality levels discussed. Taking feedback from patients continuously can support better customer service delivery. Empowering users by giving healthcare professionals decision-making power and valuing front-line staff are also effective strategies. To improve quality, firms must take initiatives to meet stakeholder expectations. Failing to do so can have adverse effects on brand image and patient preferences.

MANAGING QUALITY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Explain perspectives that stakeholders hold in health and social care..................................1
1.2 Role of external agencies in setting standards.......................................................................2
1.3 Impact of poor service quality on health and social care stakeholders..................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Explain standards that exist in health and social care for measuring quality........................3
2.2 Different approaches to implementing quality system..........................................................4
2.3 Potential barriers to delivery of quality health and social care services................................5
TASK 3 A........................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Evaluation of system, policies and procedures for enhancing patient experience.................6
3.2 Factors that may influence achievement of quality...............................................................6
3.3 Ways in which health and social care can improve its quality..............................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Managing quality plays most significant role in health and social care as through this
every healthcare organization can better satisfy need of service user. Further, it is well known
fact that every individual has some sort of expectation from healthcare firm and it can be easily
met when quality service is delivered to them on continuous basis. Various bodies and private
firms are working in favor of healthcare sector where main stress is on ensuring that quality
service is delivered to the patients and in turn their needs can be satisfied easily and in
appropriate manner (Berwick, Nolan and Whittington, 2008). Body such as care quality
commission has set some standard along with guidelines which every healthcare organization has
to comply with and it enhances overall performance of healthcare companies in the market. The
present study being carried out is based on different scenarios and different tasks have been
covered in the study which is perspectives of different stakeholders in health and social care,
impact of poor service quality, approaches of implementing quality system etc.
TASK 1
1.1 Explain perspectives that stakeholders hold in health and social care
Stakeholders in health and social care are the individuals who are directly affected by the
affairs carried out by company or any other type of decision taken. Two type of stakeholders are
present of South Birmingham Primary care trust which involves both internal and external.
Internal stakeholders are the individuals who are present within the company and are interested
in obtaining information regarding the company such as patients, suppliers, creditors etc (Black
and et.al., 2011). Further, external stakeholders are the parties which are present outside the
company such as government, communities etc. Each and every individual associated with the
firm has some sort of expectation from the firm regarding quality and it has been described
below:
 Patients: They are the service users and they expect quality service from South
Birmingham Primary care trust. Further, they are interested in obtaining care which is of
high quality and care trust must deliver them appropriate services without adopting any
unethical practice such as discrimination etc.
 Suppliers: They are the individuals who supply medical equipments to the care trust and
they expect timely payment from the hospital for the raw material supplied (Campbell
and et.al., 2007).
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 Healthcare staff: It takes into consideration doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff.
Healthcare professional expects good quality environment along with their personal
growth so that they can deliver appropriate services.
 Government: Regulatory authorities are interested in knowing whether care trust
operating in the market complies with the legal laws and regulations so that expectations
of patients can be met easily with quality service. Further, it is ensured that quality
standards are followed timely for delivering appropriate services (Casalino and et.al.,
2007).
So these are some of the key stakeholders along with their perspective. As per the case
provided staff members working in South Birmingham Primary care trust were not able to
deliver appropriate service to 90 yrs old lady Alicia Adams as at the time of transferring her from
commode to bed she died and it is representing inappropriate services delivered to her.
1.2 Role of external agencies in setting standards
External agencies plays most significant role in setting standard in the entire health care
sector. Further, main stress is on delivering quality service to the patients through which their
expectations can be met easily. Care quality commission as a body has applied larger efforts in
setting quality standards which every healthcare organization has to follow and its ignorance can
have adverse impact on firm (Cronenwett, Sherwood and Warren, 2007). Further, South
Birmingham Primary care trust did not adopted appropriate quality measures and due to this
reason Alicia Adams died at the time when was transferred from commode to bed. Time to time
external agencies such as health service commissioners ensures that every firm complies with the
standards being built for raising quality and it directly supports in development of entire sector.
Further, main responsibility of external agencies is to render effective services to the healthcare
practitioners along with staff members so that they can better understand requirement of patients.
Apart from this, proper support is provided by the parties to hospitals so that they can comply
with the quality standards and through this accidents within the workplace can be avoided easily
like in the case of Alicia Adams if proper actions were taken well in advance then such incident
may not have taken place.
Agencies Roles
Care Quality commission Regulator of health and social care services
provides by NHS
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Social care institute for
excellence (SCIE)
To determine the spread knowledge for social
care workers and support for transformation
of quality service (Curtis and et.al., 2006)
The national institute for
health and Clinical
excellence (NICE)
Setting standards for improving healthcare
1.3 Impact of poor service quality on health and social care stakeholders
Poor service quality has direct and adverse impact on health and social care stakeholders
of South Birmingham Primary care trust. Stakeholders such as patients, health care professionals
are adversely affected when service quality is below expected level. In case of patients they will
not prefer to purchase services if their expectations are not met by care trust and will lead to
negative mouth to mouth publicity. Further, health care professionals such as doctors, nurses will
not prefer to carry out duties assigned and this will have adverse impact on entire company
(Flores, 2005). Further, it will create negative image of trust in minds of its suppliers and it will
highlight that all the range of material supplied are not used by care trust in proper manner. It
will adversely affect reputation of the hospital. Apart from this government as a stakeholder will
also be affected and regulatory authorities will know that care trust is not complying with the
legal requirement. Apart from this external party such as care quality commission, health service
commissioners will be adversely affected as they will know that proper quality standards are not
at all followed by care trust and this is leading to decline in overall image of the firm in the
market. Therefore, in this way poor service quality will have direct impact on health and social
care stakeholders and will not be beneficial for the firm.
TASK 2
2.1 Explain standards that exist in health and social care for measuring quality
Different standards are present in health and social care which can be easily implemented
by Scotland in order to achieve the proposed vision for 2020 which involves enhance the quality
level of the services in healthcare so that people can live longer and healthier. The ranges of
standards are:
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 ISO: Through this it will become easy to ensure that medical goods along with
equipments are manufactured in proper way and are safe to be used. Through this, issues
linked with quality does not arises (Glasgow and et.al., 2005)
 PS 9000: It is the standard associated with medical packing material and Scotland can
implement this standard in its practice at the time when medical goods along with
equipments are packed. Through this it can be ensured that service users are provided
proper commodities as per their expectations with high quality.
 TL 9000: It is recommended to Scotland to undertake this standard so as to ensure global
telecommunication quality (Grol, 2013).
 Benchmarking: It is also one of the most appropriate ways where Scotland can set
quality benchmark where main stress will be on ensuring that all the quality standards are
met for delivering appropriate service to the users.
 Legislations: Different quality standards along with acts have been passed by
government which can be considered while implementing the vision set for the year
2020. This can provide base in enhancing the quality level and through this it will
become possible to deliver appropriate services as per requirement of the patients.
Therefore, in this way the range of standards along with other techniques can be
employed for measuring quality and same can be implemented to achieve the vision set for the
year 2020.
2.2 Different approaches to implementing quality system
Country like Scotland can consider various approaches with the help of which it is
possible to implement the effective quality system. Such approaches are as follows:
 Planning: Through proper planning it is possible to implement the quality system in
effective manner where all the range of activities can be prioritized and can be
implemented through effective planning. Further, it will support in knowing the range of
resources required in implementation of quality system and same can be used in
appropriate manner (Moullin and et .al, 2011).
 Target setting: Authorities in Scotland who are assigned responsibility of implementing
quality system can set targets on monthly basis through which implementation is possible
in proper manner. Further, by setting targets it can be ensured that all the activities are
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carried out as per plan or not. Therefore, it can be beneficial for the entire nation and the
proposed vision can be achieved in the time frame allocated.
 Developing policies and procedures: Country can built different policies which are
linked with the implementation of quality system. Further, through this individual who
are assigned responsibility can perform better and this can be fruitful in raising the
quality level of the services. Apart from this, appropriate procedure can be developed on
the basis of which operations can be conducted easily (Marmot and Taylor, 2008).
 Managing resources: By managing all the key resources such as financial, technological,
human etc it is possible to implement quality system in appropriate manner. In case if
proper planning is not present in relation with resource then implementation is not
possible and this can prevent in accomplishing the vision developed.
2.3 Potential barriers to delivery of quality health and social care services
Large number of barriers is present which can adversely affect at the time of delivering
quality health and social care services for proposed vision 2020. Barriers can be present both
internally and externally. Internal barriers can be resources where it is possible that resources
present are inadequate such as finance, human etc due to which it will become difficult to render
quality service as per expectations of patients (Gibbon, Labonte and Laverack, 2002). Internal
risks can also act as barrier where risk of technological breakdown can prevent from delivering
quality service which is one of the main aims of the proposed vision for the year 2020. Such risk
can be easily tackled by taking corrective actions in advance. Interaction between healthcare
professionals can also be main barrier where sometime it may be possible that staff members
does not prefer to interact with each other and this may prevent in delivering quality service to
the patients.
On the other hand, external barriers are also present where legislations introduced by the
government are not appropriate due to which quality care is not delivered. Apart from this, it
becomes difficult to comply with the legislations if they are not developed properly. Social
policy is also one of the main barriers as it is possible that principles along with guidelines may
prevent authorities from delivering quality service and it becomes difficult to accomplish the
vision being set for the development of entire nation (LAS, 2014). Therefore, in this way these
are some of the internal along with external barriers which can prevent from providing quality
care to the professionals.
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TASK 3 A
3.1 Evaluation of system, policies and procedures for enhancing patient experience
Their exist large number of system along with procedures with the help of patients can be
provided remarkable experience in health and social care sector. Total quality management as a
system is regarded to be most effective with the help of which NHS and other health care
companies can improve mental health service. Through this tool it can be ensured that tools
along with treatment methods employed are up to the mark in the form of quality and this can be
beneficial for patients (National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards., 2012). Apart
from this, it supports in knowing whether the range of quality standards present are followed
properly or not. TQM allows in providing remarkable experience to the service users and in turn
is beneficial for the entire health and social care sector. Considering all the individuals associated
with healthcare can also be effective where NHS can involve its stakeholders such as employees
etc in determining the best way through which better mental health services can be delivered to
patients for their development. Further, by developing an environment of continuous quality
improvement it is possible that quality level of mental services can be enhanced in short period
of time and through this satisfaction level of the patients can be raised easily (Curtis and et.al.,
2006). Moreover, management leadership is also beneficial through which evaluation is possible
as leaders can ensure whether all the staff members are conducting operations as per guidelines
set and it will become easy to improve mental health services.
3.2 Factors that may influence achievement of quality
Large numbers of factors are present which can influence in achievement of quality and it
takes into consideration different type of bodies along with external parties working for the
benefit of healthcare sector. NHS trust is one of them who are working in favor of entire sector.
Different guidelines have been introduced by NHS and this encourages other health care
companies to apply larger efforts in enhancing the quality level. Further, local authorities such as
health care commission also support in enhancing quality level and they provide training to the
healthcare practitioners so that quality level can be increased to extent (Glasgow and et.al.,
2005). Apart from these private hospitals operating also provides support in the achieving the
quality aims set and this directly assist in accomplishment of overall goals set by healthcare
organization. Therefore, these are some of the factors which can influence achievement of
quality in healthcare.
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3.3 Ways in which health and social care can improve its quality
By considering different ways it is possible for health and social care service can enhance
quality level in different areas which are customer service, empowering service users, functional
quality etc. Taking feedback from patients on continuous basis can support in enhancing the
quality service as patients can provide better idea regarding the ways which can be used for
delivering better customer service and same can be applied for raising quality level (Casalino and
et.al., 2007). Further, empowering users of service is also beneficial where healthcare
professionals can be given power such as in the process of decision making etc and through this
they can support in delivering better services to the patients as per their expectations. Valuing
front line staff is also effective way where healthcare firm can appraise front line employees for
the activities carried out by them and this can enhance their motivation level. So, these are some
of the effective ways through which health and social care service can enhance its quality in
major areas.
CONCLUSION
The entire study being carried out has supported in understanding about the significance
of quality in health and social care. Further, to enhance quality level it is required for every firm
to take initiatives so that expectations of the stakeholders can be easily met. Moreover, if quality
level of the service is not up to the mark then it will act as hurdle in delivering service and no
user will prefer to purchase service of healthcare. This will also have adverse impact on brand
image of firm and can adversely affect company. Apart from this the quality standards such as
ISO can be implemented in the operations for conducting quality operations.
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REFERENCES
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systematic overview. PLoS medicine. 8(1). pp.188.
Campbell, S. and et.al., 2007. Quality of primary care in England with the introduction of pay for
performance. New England Journal of Medicine. 357(2). pp. 181-190.
Casalino, L. P. and et.al., 2007. Will pay-for-performance and quality reporting affect health care
disparities?. Health Affairs. 26(3). pp. 405-414.
Cronenwett, L., Sherwood, G. and Warren, J., 2007. Quality and safety education for
nurses. Nursing outlook. 55(3). pp. 122-131.
Curtis, J. R. and et.al., 2006. Intensive care unit quality improvement: A “how-to” guide for the
interdisciplinary team*. Critical care medicine. 34(1). pp. 211-218.
Flores, G., 2005. The impact of medical interpreter services on the quality of health care: a
systematic review. Medical Care Research and Review. 62(3). pp. 255-299.
Gibbon, M., Labonte, R., & Laverack, G. (2002). Evaluating community capacity. Health &
social care in the community. 10(6).pp. 485-491.
Glasgow, R. E. and et.al., 2005. Development and validation of the patient assessment of chronic
illness care (PACIC). Medical care. 43(5). pp. 436-444.
Grol, R., 2013. Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley
& Sons.
Marmot, M. and Taylor, S., 2008. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action
on the social determinants of health. The Lancet. 372(9650).pp.1661-1669.
Moullin, M. and et .al, 2011. Delivering excellence in health and social care: Quality, excellence
and performance measurement. Open University Press.
Online
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http://www.lse.ac.uk/intranet/students/supportServices/healthSafetyWellbeing/
advicCounselling/externalSupportAgencies.aspx>. [Accessed On 12th Dec 2015].
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National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards., 2012. [PDF]. Available through: <
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