Managing Quality in Health and Social Care

Managing Quality in
Health and Social Care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Perspectives held by stakeholders regarding quality........................................................1
1.2 Role of external agencies in stipulation of standards.......................................................1
1.3 Impact of poor service quality on stakeholders................................................................2
2.1 Standards in HSC for measurement of quality.................................................................3
2.2 Approaches to implementation of quality systems...........................................................3
2.3 Potential barriers to quality service delivery within HSC................................................5
3.1 Effectiveness of systems in HSC in achieving quality of services...................................6
3.2 Factors affecting accomplishment of quality in HSC.......................................................6
3.3 Ways to improve quality of HSC services.......................................................................7
4.1 Methods to evaluate HSC service quality corresponding to external & internal
perspectives............................................................................................................................7
4.2 Impact of involving service users in evaluation process on service quality.....................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Health and social care sector is one of the most rapidly growing sectors across the global
periphery. Quality is considered as an integral and inseparable component of this industry. The
excessive focus upon quality owes to the fact that health and social care deals with a large
number of lives in a single day. The concerned component ensures that service users have access
to satisfactory quality services so that they can sustain a healthy and quality life. It is important
for organisations working within this sector to comply with quality standards and procedures so
that their goodwill and offerings do not get dampened. Royal United Hospital has been
considered for this project which is a health and social care corporation engaged in provision of
care services to users.
1.1 Perspectives held by stakeholders regarding quality
Stakeholders can be defined as the individuals who are influenced and place an influence
over the operations and actions of an entity. Gaining knowledge of their perspectives is
important for health and social care institutions. The perspectives held by various stakeholders
with reference to quality in context of Royal United Hospital are mentioned beneath:-
Patients: They are the users of care and associated services provided by the hospital.
Their primal focus is upon entailment of quality services so that they can sustain a healthy living.
As per their perspective, RUH should provide them access to healthy environment, qualified care
services, 24*7 facilities and hassle free provision of care.
Service Providers: This stakeholder group encompasses the care staff within the hospital
which is engaged in stipulation of care to users. In relation to RUH, the perspective held by
service providers is that they should have access to training so that they can become capable of
delivering high quality services. This will enhance their capability and competency.
Policymaker: They are the ones belonging to top management who are engaged in
development and stipulation of effective policies. Their perspective is to ensure maintenance of
quality by levying down strict policies and regulations within the confines of RUH.
1.2 Role of external agencies in stipulation of standards
External agencies play an important role in setting standards which can ensure quality
within the premises of health and social care organisations. In this regard, two of the most
important external agencies and their roles are discussed underneath:-
1

National Institute for Clinical Excellence:
This is an entity which renders guidance in the form of promotion of healthy living by
way of prevention and treatment of illness in due course of time. NICE ensures maintenance of
value for money. With respect to RUH, it can be seen that hereby nurses reassure themselves
before providing any prescription or sedatives to anxiety stricken patients. Organisational staff
takes proper training in relation to NICE guidelines so that none of their actions contradict the
standards set by NICE.
Care Quality Commission:
The care services provided by local authority, public health care institutions, companies
and voluntary associations are regulated under the standards of CQC. This entity ensures that
quality services are provided by entities to users. RUH gets over 3 investigations done by CQC
on an annual basis. The grounds for the same are quality of care services, hygiene and many
more.
The care provided by local authorities, NHS, private companies and voluntary
organization are regulated by CQC. They always aim to provide quality and better health care to
each service user. In Royal United Hospital CQC makes minimum three inspections yearly on
the measure of cleanliness, care quality and so on. CQC has the power to take action on the
behalf of service user if the care and quality provided by health care is not acceptable. CQC
perspective initiates measures through putting service users on the centre of care; they were in
the favour of promoting independence and equality. Always try to improve performance of their
hospital to achieve standard.
1.3 Impact of poor service quality on stakeholders
Quality being the central focus of health care organisations has a substantial impact over
the stakeholders if it is found to be poor. The probable impact of poor quality over the
stakeholder groups of RUH is mentioned beneath:-
On Patients- Dissatisfied patient bad mouths about the hospital as they do not derive the
kind of services they desired and expected from the entity. They are not willing to make a visit to
such hospital again whereby they have once been provided with poor quality services.
On Service providers- When staff of RUH is not provided with training and
development opportunities to enrich their professional personalities, they prefer to leave such
2