University Assignment: Managing Quality in Health & Social Care

This report provides a detailed analysis of quality management within the health and social care sector, focusing on the perspective of stakeholders, including users and government. It explores the role of external agencies like the National Institute of Care Excellence and the Care Quality Commission in setting quality standards. The report investigates the adverse impacts of reduced quality on both organizations and users. It further examines various methods for evaluating service quality from internal and external perspectives, such as questionnaires and interviews. The report also discusses policies, procedures, and factors influencing quality, including the importance of effective communication and teamwork. It highlights models like Total Quality Management and Continuous Quality Improvement. Finally, the report addresses the challenges of insufficient equipment and resources and suggests strategies for improvement, ultimately aiming to enhance the delivery of healthcare services.

Managing Quality in Health &
Social Care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Perspectives of several stakeholders related to quality.........................................................1
1.2 Role of external agencies in setting quality..........................................................................2
1.3 Adverse impact of reduce quality in an organisation............................................................3
4.1 Methods for evaluating health and social care service quality with internal and external
perspective..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Policies and procedure which is used for achieving quality standard...................................4
3.2 Factors that influence quality in health and social care........................................................5
3.3 Ways through which quality get improved in health and social care...................................5
4.2 Evaluation of process in delivery service to users................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Quality management is essential for development and growth of every kind of business
because customers want quality of products and services for which they are paying. It assists
company in managing their brand image, grabbing customers and in continuous managing
existing image. Organisation related to health and social care has main motive to provide quality
of services to their patients which satisfy them. For this, NHS hospital of United Kingdom is
taken which is providing quality of services to their customers. Management of such organisation
mainly concentrate on the issues related to health of their patient so that they can recover easily
as well entire assignment rely on Health and Social Care (HSC) including various points related
to the same. Several things are explained in this project is different perspective of quality in
relation to the similar services and strategies which help in achieving quality. Instead of this
effectiveness of policies, procedure which assists in gaining quality of their offering as well as
methodologies is also explained.
TASK 1
1.1 Perspectives of several stakeholders related to quality
For smooth running of any company in proper manner, it is essential to involve
stakeholders in their entire actives and decision making. Every business has several stakeholders
and everyone has their own perspective related to the same organisation and for this, appropriate
action should be taken so interest of their should be fulfil. Managing quality is important for firm
and standard of work according to different stakeholders. Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital which
is founded in 2010. Below given is the different perspective of stakeholders as per the quality is
given:-
There are of two types internal and external. They have kinds of views for quality of
services National health and security is serving. For this, views of external stakeholders have to
find out.
Users: The same hospital of NHS has to examine issues and diseases of their patients so
according to that treatment should be given to them for better result and faster recovery.
According to the users management of same organisation have to appoint such staffs which
provide quality of services so the persons who are admit and their care taker are satisfied with
these.
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Government: they have to design such policies and procedure which must be followed by
the service providers related to health care. These should be followed by the management of such
firm so that they are able to provide quality of services and solve issues of patients. There are
some rules which can be followed by Respective hospital are employment Act, 2008 and Health
and safety 1996 etc. According to the employment act the employees are provided with more
powers and equal platforms so that they can grow in the long run. It is ensured that they get equal
wages and do not get exploited by their employers. This has become an important act as it
brought equality at the work place and also promoted transparency at work place.
Figure 1external stakeholders
(Source: External Stakeholders, 2008)
Although, administration have to follow kind of standard so that they can examine how to
measures services which they have to provide and according to that laws which is given by
government for the same offering.
1.2 Role of external agencies in setting quality
Stakeholders play vital role in setting quality of the services provided by National health
and security as well for this company have to take care of their holders. Because many of
organisation sometimes forgot their lead to their stakeholders which is important for the growth
of business. There are a range of stakeholders who has their crucial role in the enterprise like
customers, investors, government, employees etc. it is important that they are kept happy so that
continuity in operations are maintained and no compromise with the work is done which may
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happen if any of the above stakeholder loose their interest in business. Thus, because of the same
they failed in providing quality of services for this issues there are some agencies so that proper
quality of standard should be maintained by them. These are some companies which lead to
support in setting standard related to service quality: National institute of care excellence and
Care quality commission.
National institution for care excellence: this is a firm which provide support to firms in
delivering quality of services as well in expanding also. Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital have to
give guidelines to their doctors and other staff to visit such places so their way of delivering
services and knowledge become proper.
Care quality commission: they just set standard for hospitals who is providing services
related to HSC. Same agency focus on day to day activity so they can achieve their target related
to quality services. All the Hospital which comes under the NHS should be aware about these
agencies thus, sometimes requirement of fund and resources may arises which can be provided
by them.
For targeting quality of services, external agencies play crucial role and such companies
assist in delivering proper services to the end users. Scope of the same firm is wide in nature and
mainly work of these is improving health of patients.
1.3 Adverse impact of reduce quality in an organisation
Impact of poor care on company: There is wide impact on organisation when they don't
provide quality of services gives direct effect on contrary. This also reduce productivity of firm
because of that Ashford and St. Peter's hospital profit level also decrease. If this process is
continuing, then customers get dissatisfied it may result in closing down the firm also. There are
some agencies which help hospital of NHS in managing their quality of services with the help of
laws given by government.
Impact of poor care on the users: quality matters a lot in HSC sector because in this
compromise with these cannot be done. If Ashford and St. Peter's hospital want satisfaction of
their customers, then they have to work in proper manner considering the needs and wants of
customers. Because in hospital use of poor services and old techniques can harm patients.
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4.1 Methods for evaluating health and social care service quality with internal and external
perspective
Hospitals are service providers and for them, it is important to maintain quality of
services according to their standard. This is because if these are not maintained by organisation,
then they will suffer; their users will decline and with this, profitability will also reduce. For
taking views of stakeholders related to offerings of the same firm, they can use various
approaches for this which results in taking feedbacks because every person has his/her own
viewpoint and instead of this, patients also taken for this activity as per their requirement.
Questionnaire: It is the form of document in which several questions are to be asked from
stakeholders and patients related to company as well of their services. This method is suitable for
taking information which assists in improving overall performance which satisfies both of them.
It is the best way for Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital in identifying perspective of patients and
stakeholders. Though this method is effective for collecting the required level of information
same has few drawbacks too. The information collected through this medium represents only the
image of care in words of its patients who willingly gives their feedback. This data does not
include the data associated with the responses of other individuals whose response may affect the
quality of care.
Interview: It can be conducted on phone or face to face because with this, more and more
information can be gathered by this activity which is helpful in identifying needs and wants of
the customers. Although, it is the way of collecting data in suitable manner for Hospital of NHS
foundation (Moorhead and et.al., 2013).
These are the ways through which information or data is gathered from customers and
stakeholders so that the respective organisations can take proper actions which are necessary for
maintaining their image as well as customers.
TASK 2
Covered in PowerPoint presentation.
TASK 3
3.1 Policies and procedure which is used for achieving quality standard
Stanford resident home care in this Sam is the manager but here people are not getting
proper quality of services which can satisfy them. According to Care Quality Commission
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(CQC) agency, home care is falling down from its set standard for services (Parekh and et.al.,
2011). So, they have to implement such strategies in their day to day working so their patient’s
requirement get fulfilled and get recovered. Unsatisfied customers are more dangerous and for
health care organisation, it is important to provide services which are appropriate and use new
technologies so that people will get relief from their issues and diseases easily. For this whole, it
is required to set policies, procedure and maintenance of overall system.
Below mentioned are some issues on which manager has to work for improving their services: -
 Poor communication- Sam, who is the manager of given home care has to introduce
proper communication path so that people can convey proper information to each other.
Because this is the main reason of not providing proper information when employees
don't have complete and correct information, then they are not able to offer suitable and
quality services.
 Lack of teamwork- Team should have proper number of employee and most important is
that they have to work in proper manner to get desired outcomes. Because if group in not
doing their work properly then management of the entire organisation get affected. So,
manager of Stanford resident care has to create proper team and then altogether work
properly for achieving target assigned to them (Reeves and et.al., 2011).
Above mentioned are some policies and procedure which organisation has to follow so
that they can improve quality of services provided by them as well as per requirement
services is provided. These must be taken in mind for providing services to their end
users in better quality.
There are different models which can be used in order to evaluate the problems from the
organisations:
Total quality management – it is an effective tool through which a good working
atmosphere is established which is free from any errors. Through this system it is ensured that
work is done correct at the very first time it is done. It assists in saving much time and also helps
in using the resources to their full capacity.
Continuous Quality improvement – This is another aspect of improving the total standards
of work. According to this the work force is encouraged to perform better every time in
comparison to the last achieved results.
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3.2 Factors that influence quality in health and social care
Employees of HSC have to work in proper way or on line; so by this, they can maintain
quality of services which is provided by them. Management of such companies has to work on
these factors through which end users of services become satisfied. Few major issues which lead
to determinant quality standard of HSC are given below: -
Lack of equipment: It simply means company don't have proper equipment i.e. machines
and material which is required for production of goods and services, then it gives direct impact
on operation department. If no proper funds and resources, then customers get don't get satisfied
because no one wants to sacrifices. Same situation is with Stanford care this is the main reason of
lacking behind.
Staff shortage: Many employees leave company because they are not satisfied and when
there is no job satisfaction, no one wants to do job. When there is no proper manpower, then
communication with large number of patient is not possible at one time. This is also a reason
because of which users of services are not satisfied.
These are some problems with these given business is suffering and in result fail to
provide deliver proper services to large numbers of customers at particular time. The same gives
major impact on brand image and in maintaining existing performance. Manage Sam have to
work on these factors so they can provide quality of services.
3.3 Ways through which quality get improved in health and social care
Improving quality is necessary because individual cannot comprise with their health thus,
it is the duty of the manager to manage entire process of their organisation so that they can
provide services with appropriate quality. This helps in satisfying users and in recovering from
disease of patients. For this, first requirement is to find out the ways that is affecting working of
the firm and these are shortage of staff, lack of training to personnel, low technologies, poor
communication and so on (Singer and et.al., 2011). On basis of these, appropriate steps which
are taken to solve all these issues are given below:-
Design training and development so that staff can enhance their skills and knowledge,
then provide quality of services.
The latest technologies should be adopted so for all these, required fund must be
arranged. Because production as well work with latest machines can be done by maintaining
quality.
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Recruitment and selection process should be done so that company has proper number of
employee and their working can be managed in an effective manner.
All these are some major steps which Sam manager of home care is taking for delivering
effective quality of services. Bring strength in their organisation so issues can be managed in
proper manner.
4.2 Evaluation of process in delivery service to users
It is necessary for company to involve users in their activities so they can provide them
quality of service which satisfy them. When various things are applied by management in their
working, they can satisfy their customers as well as numbers of customers become more
(Weisfeld, 2011). It is important to involve users because when they are included, then it’s easy
for health care companies to find out their issues and problems; after that, suitable solution of
these is identified. Thus, management of organisation have to evaluate the process which they
implemented for rendering services.
Manager of Stanford has to take crucial and proper decision which leads to involve
number of users from the viewpoint of them. This process can be done by taking feedbacks from
the stakeholders and users; it can be done by the interview, face to face contact and
questionnaires so that proper data is collected by both of them so that health care firm can do
improvement in their existing performance. Better information assists in motivating employees
so that it will give positive results and help in growth as well development of business.
Managing quality is important for companies so that they can satisfy their customers and
resolve health issues. Apart from all optimistic aspects, there are some pessimistic aspects also
find out which impact he practical. Some of the time, user does not supply suitable detail for
services which promote leads to demotivate workers who are working in company and their
working. Hence, by applying proper method, it becomes easy to eluate the procedure in
transferral of service to users. So, they must provide proper services to their end users after
taking and identifying their needs and wants.
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CONCLUSION
Quality management is important for every kind of business but in service sector, it plays
a vital role. In organisation related to HSC, management have to focus on quality of services they
are providing because no one wants to compromise with their health; they want fine quality of
services. For this, users and stakeholders play crucial role because everyone have different
viewpoints. There are some agencies which assist in improving poor quality and for such care
institutions standards are designed in which overall working can be done as well quality should
be maximised. Apart from this, there are some approaches which can be considered for
managing the same. Hence, it has been concluded that quality of services should be provided by
companies especially in health care institutions.
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REFERENCES
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McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Brett, J. and et.al., 2014. Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and
social care research: a systematic review. Health Expectations. 17(5). pp.637-650.
Care Quality Commission, 2012. The state of health care and adult social care in England in
2011/12 (Vol. 763). The Stationery Office.
Cherry, B. and Jacob, S.R., 2016. Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Damron, W.S. and Damron, W.S., 2013. Introduction to animal science: global, biological,
social, and industry perspectives.
Insel, P. and et.al., 2011. Core concepts in health.
Moorhead, S.A. and et.al., 2013. A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses,
benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication. Journal of medical
Internet research. 15(4).
Parekh, A.K. and et.al., 2011. Managing multiple chronic conditions: a strategic framework for
improving health outcomes and quality of life. Public health reports. 126(4). pp.460-
471.
Reeves, S. and et.al., 2011. Interprofessional teamwork for health and social care (Vol. 8). John
Wiley & Sons.
Singer, S.J. and et.al., 2011. Defining and measuring integrated patient care: promoting the next
frontier in health care delivery. Medical Care Research and Review. 68(1). pp.112-127.
Weisfeld, V.D., 2011. Jonas and kovner's health care delivery in the united states. Springer
Publishing Company.
Online:
External Stakeholders. 2008. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.stakeholdermap.com/external-stakeholders.html>. [Accessed on 3rd August 2017].
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