The RCP is pleased to support the launch of a major health accreditation initiative today, designed to improve patient care, provide consistency for clinicians, reduce the burden on healthcare regulators and help ensure value for money in healthcare.
The RCP has been part of a collaboration of professional bodies forming the Clinical Service Accreditation Alliance (CSAA). Today sees the launch of six resources to provide a support suite for the setup and management of accreditation schemes for clinical services that can be used in a number of ways, including as part of service redesign.
Central to the remit of the CSAA since its 2013 inception has been to ensure all affiliated schemes are patient-focused and clinician-led. Today’s launch event at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society sees 100 key delegates gather to hear speakers including Care Quality Commission chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards, NHS Providers chief executive officer Chris Hopson and British Standards Institution (BSI) director of standards Dr Scott Steedman.
Delegates will also hear presentations from organisations already delivering and supporting accreditation-based practice such as the British Liver Trust, Liverpool and Broadgreen NHS Trust and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, as they help develop the rollout of the CSAA resources.
The CSAA’s work is now complete, with day to day development of its remit being taken on by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), with governance from the CSAA Sponsor Group members. As well as the RCP, this comprises the Allied Health Care Professionals, Royal College of Nursing, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Royal College of Surgeons, and, going forward, the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
RCP president Professor Jane Dacre said:
Today’s launch is a significant milestone in ensuring the quality of clinical services in the UK. It is the culmination of years of cooperative working and engagement which began in the health professions but has since spread across many sectors, involving commissioners, the third sector, patient representatives, providers and other professionals with a stake in accreditation.
The CSAA resources published today will support any clinical service to develop accreditation schemes that mirror best practice within a national standards framework. The success of the CSAA is testament to the commitment of all those involved to promote continuous quality improvement and I am proud that the RCP was one of its founding partners.
HQIP chief executive officer Jane Ingham commented: “Our intent is to work collaboratively with the Alliance founders to ensure clinical service accreditation is used to maximum effect to enhance patient outcomes.”
The six free* resources comprise:
- Developing standards for clinical service accreditation schemes – produced in partnership with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
- Sharing and improving accreditation methodologies
- A map of clinical services groupings for the development of accreditation schemes
- A framework of standards for accrediting clinical services* – produced by the BSI
- Information management, data and systems for clinical accreditation
- Support for development of accreditation schemes.
* A framework of standards for accrediting clinical services is available free to organisations and individuals with BSI membership. HQIP also has a limited amount of free copies for those interested in establishing or updating clinical accreditation schemes, available on successful completion of a short qualifying questionnaire on either the CSAA or HQIP website.
About the CSAA: The Clinical Service Accreditation Alliance (CSAA) was created following an agreement in 2013 for a core group of professional bodies to work with groups including commissioners, the third sector, patient representatives, providers and regulators to develop an overarching strategy for clinical service accreditation. The CSAA has developed a suite of resources to support professional bodies who wish to develop professionally-led and patient-centred clinical accreditation schemes. The CSAA identified the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to host and continue to build on its work in October 2016. HQIP aims to facilitate and enable established and emerging clinical schemes to ensure that clinical service accreditation, as an improvement approach, is used to maximum effect to enhance patient outcomes, while not overburdening the system.
About HQIP: The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) is led by a consortium of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the Royal College of Nursing and National Voices. Its aim is to promote quality improvement, and in particular to increase the impact that clinical audit has on healthcare quality in England and Wales. HQIP holds the contract to manage and develop the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme, comprising 40 clinical audits and outcome review programmes that cover care provided to people with a wide range of medical, surgical and mental health conditions. The programme is funded by NHS England, the Welsh government and, with some individual audits, also funded by the health department of the Scottish government, DHSSPS Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.