The Royal College of Physicians’ Accreditation unit, the National COPD Audit Programme, and the British Thoracic Society’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Quality Improvement Advisory Group are inviting comment on their draft Pulmonary Rehabilitation Accreditation Standards.
The public consultation is open to all healthcare professionals, patients, their families, carers and friends – and any member of the public with an interest in the condition and its treatment. The standards are now available for public feedback, using the scheme’s feedback form, available online. The consultation will run until Friday 8 January 2016.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation is an accepted standard of care for people with COPD and its lack of availability or referral can affect the quality of care for patients. Pulmonary Rehabilitation is one of the few therapies that has shown to reduce time spent in hospital and is a cost effective treatment for COPD. Many experts believe that Pulmonary Rehabilitation programmes should be a far higher priority for national and local health policy-makers.
The accreditation standards have been constructed by the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Accreditation pilot scheme working group, to help drive improvement in the quality of care in pulmonary rehabilitative services, and are based on the BTS quality standards for pulmonary rehabilitation which set out the key features and minimum standards for a high quality service. The accreditation process will encourage providers to ensure that these standards are met and will act as a useful benchmark of quality for providers and patients. The pilot programme is funded by the office of the chief scientific officer, NHS England.
Professor Sally Singh, clinical lead for the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Accreditation scheme has said:
'Pulmonary rehabilitation is a high value intervention for patients with COPD, there is clear guidance about how to deliver a high quality service and this accreditation process will support the delivery of the best quality care for patients.'
The RCP’s accreditation unit has a strong track record in improving the quality and safety of patient healthcare. It hosts several accreditation schemes, including the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) on gastrointestinal endoscopy, Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Service (SEQOHS), Improving Quality in Physiological diagnostic Services (IQIPS), Quality in Primary Immunodeficiency Services (QPIDS), and Improving Quality in Allergy Services (IQAS).
Partners involved:
The Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) plays a leading role in the delivery of high‐quality patient care by setting standards of medical practice and promoting clinical excellence. The RCP provides physicians in over 30 medical specialties with education, training and support throughout their careers. As an independent charity representing 30,000 fellows and members worldwide, the RCP advises and works with government, patients, allied healthcare professionals and the public to improve health and healthcare.
The RCP Accreditation Unit
The RCP Accreditation Unit was established to improve the quality, safety and outcomes of healthcare through accreditation assessment against agreed standards. Accreditation is a supportive process involving self-assessment, training, consultancy, support, recommendations, and the sharing of best practice by teams.
The Accreditation Unit has clinical and technical expertise in accreditation, a well-established accreditation methodology and tried and tested supporting policies and procedures. It has a large administrative capacity and experience of developing and running the web-based accreditation tools that support the accreditation pathway. It also has an understanding of operating a sustainable business model, which balances value for money with a high quality scheme.
The British Thoracic Society
The British Thoracic Society (BTS) was formed in 1982 by the amalgamation of the British Thoracic and Tuberculosis Association and the Thoracic Society, but their roots go back as far as the 1920s. BTS is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. The Society’s statutory objectives are: ‘the relief of sickness and the preservation and protection of public health by promoting the best standards of care for patients with respiratory and associated disorders, advancing knowledge about their causes, prevention and treatment and promoting the prevention of respiratory disorders’. Members include doctors, nurses, respiratory physiotherapists, scientists and other professionals with an interest in respiratory disease. BTS has over 3000 members, who join because they share an interest in BTS’s main charitable objective, which is to improve the care of people with respiratory disorders.
The National COPD Audit Programme
The National COPD Audit Programme brings together primary care, secondary care, pulmonary rehabilitation and patient experience. This national audit programme comprises comprehensive multidisciplinary, collaborative working and aims to drive improvements in the quality of care and services provided for COPD patients in England and Wales. It is led by the RCP, working closely with a range of key stakeholders, including the British Thoracic Society (BTS), the Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS-UK), the British Lung Foundation (BLF) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).