Quality and Equality Impact Assessments Why and How
The Basic Principle “Quality is everybody’s business – from the ward to the board; from the supervisory bodies to the regulators, from the commissioners to primary care clinicians and managers” NHS National Quality Board 2012
Impact Assessments Provide evidence and assurance that services will effectively meet the needs of the end users Identify any potential impacts of the change both negative or positive recognise when the impact will be neutral Identify and mitigate risk Help measure benefit/ disbenefit
Who undertakes the assessment The CCG’s Quality Impact and Assessment Policy (2015) applies to all CCG staff members It encompasses all service development and change, contract reviews and changes to any policies that may impact upon patients The senior manager responsible for the team undertaking the work will be accountable and must ensure that impact assessments are undertaken, risks identified and escalated as appropriate
The Basis for the assessment is the NHS Outcomes Framework -
Scoping/Business Case Initial QIA/EIA/ PIA Where are the Gaps? Find the information Escalate any high risk Mitigate risks Just before Go Live/ Implementation Update QIA/EIA/PIA Escalate any high risk If high risk can go live happen? Post implementation review Update QIA/EIA/PIZ Any unexpected risks or issues? Any benefits/ disbenefits? Escalate any high risks Need for re-evaluation? When should assessments be done?
How to do the assessments How you choose to undertake the assessments will depend upon the size of the change Big Changes/ new services The assessment should be undertaken as part of a workshop or meeting which includes appropriate clinical and patient representation Small Changes A smaller group of CCG staff work through the assessment No assessment should be undertaken by one person alone Where support is required a request should be made to the Quality Team
How to do the assessment 1.Clearly identify what happens now (As Is) 2.Clearly articulate what will happen once the change is implemented 3.Work through each element of the change to understand if the impact will be positive or negative (the questions supplied can aid this) 4.Understand how your answers fit into the domains within the impact assessment tool 5.Consider the extent of any risks to patients or the CCG (use the CCG risk matrix to analyse the risks) 6. Complete the documentation (completed example provided) 7.If any risk scores 8 or above escalate to the Deputy Chief Nurse or senior member of the Quality Team 8.Risks taken to Quality and Risk Sub Committee