Accreditation in the NHS Sharon Dobbins, CDTV SHA David Peacock, NTW SHA

Accreditation of Library and Information Services in the Health Sector A Checklist to Support Assessment 2nd edition Compiled by Chris Fowler and Val Trinder October 2002

The purpose of accreditation Tool for the SHA to assess how well services are managed & provided Informs SHA strategy development Mechanism to enable stakeholders to assess quality of service and value for money Checklist can also be used as self assessment / quality management tool to monitor progress – both for parent organisation or library manager To inform other assessment agencies, e.g. CHI Identifies good practice which can be shared

Background and context Importance of quality assurance in the health sector –Commission for Health Improvement, Improving Working Lives etc 1997 – first edition

Background and context Importance of quality assurance in the health sector –Commission for Health Improvement, Improving Working Lives etc 1997 – first edition 2002 – second revision –Shorter –Less prescriptive, recognising variety in service provision –Reflects developments in information provision

The process Three year process Preparation – checklist and evidence Assessment day: –Panel – as objective as possible –Process Report Review

The checklist Divided into sections and sub-sections: –Library philosophy and management –Resources –Stock and services Measurement criteria: –“Must have” criteria –Graded criteria (0 = not met, 1 = further development still required, 2 = excellent)

Examples of criteria MUST HAVE - The parent organisation has a formally approved library or knowledge strategy which is annually reviewed … - eg goes to the Board - demonstrating organisational ownership of the service GRADED - There is a quality management programme in place, which includes setting, reviewing and revising service delivery standards and data collection and analysis -eg a complete process - not just collecting statistics -demonstrating that the service is proactively managed, assessed and evaluated

How Accreditation is awarded Basic – all the essential (“must have”) criteria are met Stage One Standard accreditation – all the essential criteria are met but the service has not received “excellent” grading on any criteria Stage Two Accreditation with some areas of excellence – all the essential criteria are met and between 40% & 80% of the other criteria are graded as excellent Stage Three Accreditation with significant evidence of excellence & innovation – all the essential criteria are met and 80%+ of the other criteria are graded as excellent

What is achieved? Encourages good practice Encourages development towards improved services Prevents stagnation Prevents bad practice going undetected Supports quality improvement processes Informs strategic planning at all levels Better patient care

Examples of benefits Changes in management structures Positive changes to funding arrangements New staff Development of strategies with formal mechanism for Trust approval Improvements to performance management, activity monitoring and data collection Improvements to the physical sign-posting to the library from elsewhere in the Trust

The future 2 nd edition with revised guidelines – 2005 Major revision commencing in 2006 Ongoing work with the UK Accreditation Forum Ongoing assessor training