Analysis of Quality Standards and Improvement Strategies in Healthcare

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Managing Quality in Health in Health and
Social Care
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................5
LO1..................................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Explain perspectives that stakeholders in HSC have regarding the quality..........................5
1.2 Analyse the role of external agencies in setting standards....................................................7
1.3 Assess the impact of poor service quality on HSC stakeholders...........................................8
LO2..................................................................................................................................................9
2.1 Explain the standards that exist in HSC for measuring quality.............................................9
2.2 Evaluate different approaches to implementing quality systems........................................10
2.3 Analyse potential barriers to delivery of quality HSC services...........................................11
LO3................................................................................................................................................12
3.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures used in an HSC setting in
achieving quality in the service(s) offered.................................................................................12
3.2 Analyse other factors that influence the achievement of quality in the HSC service..........13
3.3 Suggest ways in which the HSC service could improve its quality....................................14
LO4................................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Evaluate methods for evaluating HSCservice quality with regard to external and internal
perspectives................................................................................................................................15
4.2 Discuss the impact that involving users of services in the evaluation process has on service
quality........................................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................18
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Stakeholders Perspectives...............................................................................................5
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Introduction
Health and social care (HSC) is a sector where managing the quality of medicines and another
practice is necessary to ensure. It has been further identified that HSC (HSC) centres are
monitored by the care quality commission due to which it becomes important for firms to have
proper maintenance of quality within the workplace. However, it is essential for public health
centres to have a proper framework to raise the quality of social and healthcare to provide
broader services to the communities and society. Furthermore, there are certain quality indicators
that respond to the needs of accessible quality measures that can be used in the near future to
gauge performance in the HSC sector. Also, managing quality in HSC sector is important for
both service users of HSC sectors as well as external stakeholders associated with the healthcare
firm.
The present report is based on managing quality of care within the HSC centre. From the case
scenario mentioned, it has been identified that The Royal United Hospital, situated in Bath, UK
aims to provide quality care to people and the local communities within the region. However, it
has been announced by the care quality commission (CQC) that the trust needs urgent
improvements in keeping patient’s records that it protects people from the risk of unsafe and
inappropriate treatment. The report is carried out to demonstrate strategies to achieve the
required quality standards with the evaluation of systems, policies and procedures related to the
mentioned HSC firm.
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Main Body
LO1
1.1 Explain perspectives that stakeholders in HSC have regarding the quality
It has been identified that ensuring the quality standards within the HSC affects both healthcare
firm as well as the external stakeholders (Leung, et. al., 2016). It has been further demonstrated
that the care quality commission has identified in the unannounced inspection that The Royal
United Hospital is not effective in keeping safe records about the patients as well as the treatment
given to them. The mismanagement of quality standards creates a strong impact on the external
as well as internal stakeholders of the company. There are four significant types of stakeholders
identified who share different perspectives on the quality standards within the HSC centre. Those
are namely government or legal bodies, service users/patients/clients, care providers/employees,
and technicians (Gardner, et. al., 2018). The perspectives of each stakeholder vary on an
individual basis which is explained below:
Figure 1: Stakeholders Perspectives
Care providers or staff members – The primary duty or role in the context of maintaining or
managing quality standards in the Royal United Hospital is of the practitioners or care workers.
It is so because they are eventually the ones responsible for providing effective and true
treatments to the service users (McDermott, et. al., 2017). Moreover, it is essential for the
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Stakehold
ers
Care
providers
Service
users
Legal
Bodies
Technicia
ns

organizing committee of the hospital to keep the workforce motivated so that they can deliver
quality services to the care users. This can be done with the help of giving monetary and non-
monetary rewards (Almost et. al., 2016).
Government body – It is one of the most influential stakeholders and includes CQC as well as a
national institute of clinical excellence who are further responsible for setting benchmarks for
managing quality in HSC. If the actions or standards are not met by the hospital, then the
commissions can take the required action within the boundary.
Service users or patients – The service users, expect the best out of the healthcare firm as they
have complete faith in the care providers. With respect to the same, it is essential for the cited
hospital to provide the best quality services to the service users or patients. Furthermore, it is
effective for the hospital to find the reasons if they are not successful in providing the required
quality (Healy, 2016).
Technicians – Quality performance or standards delivered by the Royal United Hospital depends
upon the technical services through which total quality management (TQM) can be established in
the system. Other than the functional qualities, it is essential for the healthcare centre to keep
proper records of auditing, a record of data, supervision and client feedback in order to maintain
documentation and information.
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1.2 Analyse the role of external agencies in setting standards
There are two significant bodies carrying out the essential role as an external agency for the
purpose of setting quality standards within the HSC firm. Those two firms are the Care Quality
Commission (CQC) and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Edvardsson, et. al., 2017).
They further carry out different roles in setting the standards; a brief analysis of their roles is
done below:
Care Quality Commission (CQC) – It is a non-departmental public authority operating in the
United Kingdom which is bounded to set HSC standards in the HSC firms within the country.
The role of this public body is to –
 Safeguard the services delivered by the health and social care.
 Set standards for healthcare associations like the Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust
so that the service users or patients within the firm can get basic facilities.
 Regulation and supervision of services provided by HSC centres by unannounced
inspection (Beaussier et al. 2016).
 To ensure the rights of vulnerable communities
 Take actions if the social care centres fail to meet the defined standards of healthcare.
National Institute of Clinical Excellence – It provides or delivers advice and feedbacks to
National Health Services (NHS) in the UK. The roles of the body are stated below:
 Guidelines generated for national health services (NHS).
 Evolves standards for home and social care services.
 Provides broad information to the healthcare institutions of the country.
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1.3 Assess the impact of poor service quality on HSC stakeholders
Poor quality services delivered by the HSC sector such as The Royal United Hospital Bath NHS
Trust greatly impacts two fundamental stakeholders; one is service users, and another is the
organization itself (Simonet, 2015).
Poor quality standards can adversely impact the brand image or reputation of the organization.
Along with the same, it reduces the profitability and productivity of the cited HSC centre. On the
other hand, poor quality standards can lead to bad customer satisfaction that can lead in wind up
of the whole process or operations. In addition to the same, external agencies mentioned above
can take strict or regulatory actions against the healthcare firm which can, in turn, destroy the
whole brand image of the Royal United Hospital.
Poor quality can have a vast impact on service users or patients. Poor satisfaction level of
customers can lead to negative mouth publicity, and customer loyalty can be lost by the cited
firm.
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LO2
2.1 Explain the standards that exist in HSC for measuring quality
There are several standards which are present in the HSC centre in order to maintain a basic
framework applicable for the healthcare organization (Van Zwanenberg and Edwards, 2018).
Quality standards in the HSC centre substantiate improvement in the firm, and the standards
provide required knowledge to the service users concerning the rights or services they are
entitled to seek.
It has been identified that the services provided by the HSC centres are getting complex day by
day, for which it is necessary for both HSC firm to assess or implement quality standards. A
more integrated approach is required to adopt by the HSC associations concerning the health and
safety of service users.
The quality standards were officially introduced in March 2006 by the health minister, and these
standards are further inspected in HSC firms of UK by the care quality commission. It states that
each organization, irrespective of its size has a legal responsibility to ensure the quality of care
provided to the patient is up to the mark and meet the required standards set by the government
bodies (Owens and Koch, 2015).
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2.2 Evaluate different approaches to implementing quality systems
In order to improve the quality standards in the HSC centre, it is required by the Royal United
Hospital to adopt different approaches to implementing quality systems. It has been further
evaluated that the cited healthcare firm is required to enhance the overall quality of the
healthcare system (Gaynor, et. al., 2017). A set of integrated approaches for improving the
quality standards of the given HSC firm are stated below:
It has been identified that there are several approaches through which quality systems can be
improved, and also the stakeholders can get the required knowledge the standards:
Planning policies: Planning is said to be a fundamental approach towards finding the right
policies and procedures that will help the individuals to implement adequate procedures in order
to achieve the quality objectives.
Target setting: Merely planning about the policies and frameworks is not enough, it is essential
to manage and execute the procedures to provide the required quality to the service users as well
as maintain their service records concerning the treatment provided to the patients. Setting up a
target will compel the team workers to work truly and with full zeal.
Communication – There should be a structured and planned approach for communicating the
information so that another care worker can manage the patient of the appointed worker is not
present. Also, a clear set of information is to be shared with the legal bodies, professionals, care
workers and other external agencies to assure or maintain the brand image or reputation of the
cited health care firm that is the Royal United Hospital (Jones, et. al., 2016).
Audit monitoring and evaluation – Concerning the case scenario in regards to the Royal
United Hospital, audit monitoring and data check is the most important approach which is
required to be set by the firm. Actions and treatments of service users must be checked, and the
overall process must be monitored and documented.
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2.3 Analyse potential barriers to delivery of quality HSC services
In order to deliver good and quality care services to the patients or service users, there are certain
potential barriers that are going to come in the way (Chukmaitov, et. al., 2015). These barriers
further become a challenge for the care workers or people who are trying to bring change in the
quality standards of the HSC firm. It has been identified that there are external as well as internal
barriers present at the HSC centre that can potentially impact the delivery of effective HSC
service.
Lack of improvement in technology can be an internal barrier as well as non-availability of
adequate advanced equipment which can lead to poor delivery of services and customer
dissatisfaction. Moreover, another barrier can be a lack of leadership and training programmes to
develop skills of employees for providing effective services (Pannick, et. al., 2016).
External barriers that are present are lack of financial system help as well as non-availability of
health insurance can significantly lead to adverse conditions for the cited healthcare association.
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