Managing Quality in health and social care

Table of Contents

Kansan Medical society is one of the most renewable local health and social care organization in United Kingdom. We focus on clinical excellence, quality of service and efficiency, and have a deserved reputation in the independent health care sector for consistent achievement of these values. The objective of the Kansas Medical Society is to unite the medical professions of the State of Kansas in promoting the science and art of medicine and protecting the health of the citizens of the state. This Organization recently is facing some problem in managing their quality as serious infectious diseases called Mythical in Resistant Staphylococcus Aurous. As a worker of the organization author prepare this report on how to improve the quality of this organization. This report will describe the types of perspective about service quality, various strategies to achieve the quality and evaluation of the systems used in the organization.

Task 1

1.1 Different perspective of service quality

Service quality is the assessment of how well the delivered service is matched with the customer’s expectation. The service providers always measure the service quality to improve the service in order to remain competitive and give better service. Different shareholders may have different expectation about the service quality.

Patients perceived service quality in health care

Patients want service from the providers that will match with their level of expectation for example they want quick recovery, neat and clean environment etc. Five dimension of service of the patients about service are described below;

Reliability

They want reliable service from the providers such as they expect that the doctor will identify the diseases and provide the appropriate treatment that will make them well (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012).

Responsiveness

Patients expect that the providers are willing to help them, understand their needs and response to their complaints and solve their problem as soon as possible (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012).

Empathy

Patients also expect that the providers have the true interest in hearing from the customers and have the ability to understand problem and provide solution.

Assurance

Patients also expect that the employees possess the necessary skills and knowledge to help them.

Tangible

The patients want clean, clear, and well equipped service environment that will ensure them that the providers will have the capacity to help them.

Health care professional’s expectation about the service quality

The health care professional means the physicians who will provide the services to the patients. They want technical excellence with which they can provide better services and they interact with patients. To provide excellent service they need to make right decision about care for the patients and the required skills, judgments and timely execution of the treatment. The interaction between them and patients depends on the quality of the communication system, their ability to maintain the patients trust, concern, honesty, empathy etc (Baron, 2010).

Management’s perspective about the health quality

Management of the health care organization must be remained involved in the service delivery process. They must know the demand of both patients and the physicians by knowing the need both of them. They are also responsible for maintaining the fund of government and various private sectors.

1.2The hand of various outside agencies in setting the standard in service quality

What is a standard?

Standard can be described as a level of service against which service performance is measured. It is essential for the safe and effective practice of the performance of the health and social care. It is developed by knowing the expectation of the patients. It must be updated and reviewed regularly to remain competitive. Development of standard is a major objective for all of the health and social care organizations because of the raising awareness of the various interest groups (Backman, et al, 2000).

Care Quality Commission: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent health and social care regulator in UK which regulates and maintains the health care organizations and adult social care services provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies and voluntary organizations. The CQC also protects the rights of people which is explained under the Mental Health Act (Backman, et al, 2000). The CQC monitor the standard of the health organization to see whether they provide quality service to the patients, whether they provide necessary compensation to the employees and whether they maintain the safety and cleanliness of the organizations. All providers of health service must maintain the rules provided by the CQC.

The NHS Constitution in UK

It was first published in 2009 by establishing its principles and values. It spells out the rights of patients, stuff, and public with regard to health service and also the responsibility of each to another to get the right service. It regularly upgrades its principles to see that all the parties involved in health services get their desired interest.

National service framework

National service frameworks (NSFs) are the part of NHS which are long term strategies for improving specific areas of care. They set national standards and measurable goals within a particular duration of time. This section provides a website for all in which all parties can make comments about their activities.

1.3 The impact of poor service in health and social care service

Poor services provided by the health care organizations have a serious impact on their overall activities.

Some of the impacts are described below

· When patients experience poor service they become dissatisfied, they may take serious action and leave the organization.

· Poor service quality affects their image which reduces their customer equity.

· Various agencies such as CQC, NHS may also investigate the situation and can take serious action such as penalty or close the organization.

· Negative word of mouth by dissatisfied patients can seriously harm the organization by decreasing their customers (Kuo, et al, 2012).

Task 2

2.1 Standard for service quality in health and social care

The service quality standard in the health care has been developed based on five theme

1. Leadership and accountability

2. Safe and effective care

3. Accessible service

4. Promoting and improving the service

5. Effective communication

Standards are developed based on

· The requirement and expectation of the customers

· The expectation of the staff

· Establishing the target for a specific time period

The types of service standard using in health care industry

National minimal acceptable standard

The government spells out these standards which must be maintained by the health care organization if they want to start their business. These are the minimum standard necessary for the operation of the health care organization. This standard focus on

· By applying the standards the regulatory body find out whether the facilities, resources, policies, activities and services of the home are adequate for the life of the patients.

· Agency also looks for clear evidence about the fitness of managers, staff, and premise for their purposes.

· The agency also ensures the quality of the workforce and the quality of the service they provide.

Advantages of using this standard that the organization need not conduct the research to know patients requirements and the others parties requirement and thus saves their cost. On the other hand by using this standard organization may cannot remain competitive as it only maintain the minimum standard

Benchmarking

When one organization set standard based on the standard of the competitor, it is called benchmarking. Benchmarking is one of the best standards by applying which the organization can avoid some risk (Montgomery and Meyer). Competitors may apply some strategies which give them some privileges over the organization. If they follow the benchmarking standard, they can avoid the risk (Rust,et al, 2006).

It has also some disadvantages. For example organization will not search for new better strategies when they only focus on benchmarking.

Best practice

This is the best standard which is developed by the organization by conducting adequate research on the requirement of patients about service dimension and the requirement of the staff.

It helps the organization to remain competitive as this standard reflects the customers need.

Organization measure the service quality by using the serviqual model. They first assess the requirement of the patients about the service based on five dimension of the model namely reliability, assurance, empathy, tangible and responsiveness. Then after receiving the service another measurement is made to see whether the performance is matched with the desired service level (Rust,et al, 2006).

2.2 service quality implementation approaches

The organization may focus on only one area to improve quality or they can focus on some areas or to focus on the overall areas of the organization. They may emphasis on different areas with different management process and their assessment method is also different. The assessment may be internal, external with or without awards and accreditation (Baron).

Figure: The approaches to implementing the service quality

Source: (Rust,et al, 2006).

Monitoring the services quality in one area

Organization may choose one area of the system to improve the quality for example on the customers service centre. When the organization does not have sufficient resources or it does not need to improve the quality of another area, it follows this approach (Rust,et al, 2006).

Monitoring quality for some of the area

Organization may choose some of the areas of the organization to improve its service quality.

Using a quality system to assess and improve one area.

In this situation organization develop a quality system which is developed based on research.

Total quality management

It is a continuous improvement process taken by the organization. It focuses on the every part of the organization for the while life of the organization (Pauwels and Ruyter).

A quality system sets out expectations that a quality organization should meet.

There are a number of different approaches,

off-the-shelf systems
in-house or tailor-made systems
national occupational standards
sub-sectored systems
No formal system but a culture of review and change.

2.3 Barrier to service quality

As the organization facing serious problem of contagious diseases, there are several barrier to provide the quality services.

Availability

· As the disease is increasing among the residents and it also is contagious, also the seat of the health care centre is limited, the organization facing the problem of availability of seat, drugs.

· As the disease is contagious, so the employees may switch the health care centre for the fear of the diseases (Ruskin, 2005)

Affordability

· As there exists economic recession and the local Authority were slashed, so they face the problems of increasing the cost and prices of the services.

· They need to know the needs of the patients and the staff but it is not easy to articulate these as service is intangible.

· The organization need to reevaluate their strategies which also cause the increase of cost.

Task 4

At the present time quality measuring of health care is the key concept of health service. The quality control and quality measurement only can be organized through collecting the data and analysis the data. The data would be the main resources of implication proper services and has advantage of its. But there is some important hindrance. There are various methods for emulating the quality that is varied one to another. Among the various methods we can use Interviewee, focus group, questionnaires, structured interview, panel work, recommendation, road show, and so on.

Quality improvement activities are a pervasive component of cutting edge medicinal services frameworks as a result of genuine and saw holes in the nature of social insurance delivery. However, such activities are regularly not subject to assessment, or when assessment is led this is done ineffectively.

The Quality improvement methods are generally used the innovating tools or model for developing health care as the tools which model is complex healthcare. In any case and in addition being segments of value change programs they can some of the time be a helpful subordinate to other more conventional assessment techniques, in this manner serving a double part (UKessay, 2009).

Evaluation is always taken due to control over the quality that is providing by personal, group and through service. Here the quality of health has been considered as the effectiveness of the service as well as efficiency. It also included the safety for patient. It also discuss about the aim of the health care and how much it met as compere to the providing information, providing service, care, and recommendation from patient. Quality improvement exploration is connected examination including assessment of value change activities which is gone for educating strategy and practice. Current rules for reporting quality change incorporate 'portrayals of the instruments and systems used to survey the viability of usage, the commitments of intercession parts and connection to adequacy of the mediation and the effect on essential and auxiliary results (UKessay, 2009).

Use of Clinical model has been evaluated the health care as the logical model where the patient and the problem based on health care making the destination where planning, application and evaluation have been consider as the basement of the input. The input provided the output as the healthcare processes implemented that are popular. The long term output has been considered as the result of care which would be beneficial or harmful.

Clinical audit, which is the 'precise, basic examination of the nature of therapeutic consideration, including the techniques utilized for determination and treatment, the utilization of assets and the subsequent result for the patient incorporates assessment with the procedure. It includes estimation of consideration against built up criteria and norms through which execution and changes in execution can be measured. Review can and has been utilized as an assessment system, even in randomized studies (UKessay, 2009).

Significant event audit is another method that is much of the time used to assess care, especially mind that is considered to fall underneath measures or that is exceptionally good. It is an effective apparatus for attempting so as to assess medicinal services forms to comprehend the point by point calculates that prompted consideration being outside the standard, however it can likewise enhance correspondence, group building and quality.

Plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles are another method for exploring consideration forms while quickly executing proof based or sound judgment changes to procedures of consideration, empowering changes to be spread all the more effortlessly and effectively. The third phase of the PDSA cycle includes contemplating the impact of a change utilizing numerical or subjective information – even with small scale changes, the impact after some time on procedures of consideration can be measured and investigated utilizing factual procedure control strategies. The PDSA model is a helpful method for assessing while acquainting quick change with medicinal services form (Imedpub, 2013).

Focus groups and individual interviews are imperative conventional strategies for social affair information about the encounters of patients and staff about administrations. A vital quality change device, which is an advancement from this, is the 'disclosure interview'.15 This account strategy includes listening to the stories of patients and careers of the consideration that they have gotten with a specific end goal to comprehend encounters from a client point of view. Other account systems for quality change exploration and assessment incorporate naturalistic story social event amid a venture or aggregate sense-production of a complete undertaking by a member onlooker and the authoritative contextual analysis (UKessay, 2009).

Main driver investigation is a particular kind of noteworthy occasion examination which expects to discover clarifications for antagonistic or untoward occasions through the efficient survey of composed and oral confirmation to set up fundamental reasons. The investigation includes characterizing the issue, social occasion confirmation, recognizing conceivable main drivers and the basic purposes behind these and afterward choosing which causes are agreeable to change. This prompts suggestions, the impact of which can be further assessed (UKessay, 2009).

Another imperative part of assessment is the human elements included in change. Responsibility for is especially critical for social insurance experts, for example, specialists and medical attendants, who at the cutting edge of consideration have the ability to advance or subvert change. This, the altered pyramid of control, has been connected to social insurance to underline the significance of clinical administration. A comprehension of inner qualities and difficulties and in addition outside circumstances and dangers, together with individual and gathering drivers and boundaries to change is basic to effective wellbeing administrations, a methodology which has its premise in Lewin's ‘force field theory’(Imedpub, 2013).

Bigger scale assessment or more powerful assessments may require more perplexing strategies, for example, semi trial techniques including time arrangement or non-randomized control gathering plans and additionally cost examination (Imedpub, 2013).

Quality change strategies, regardless of their expanding application to wellbeing services, have not been broadly considered or utilized as a feature of social insurance assessment however could give a helpful expansion to the evaluative systems that are as of now being used.

Conclusion

As Kansas Medical Association is facing problem in managing their quality now a days, it need to carefully formulate strategies to encounter this problem. The organization need to understand various view of the quality of service by various stakeholders group. Then it needs to formulate standard and policies and to integrate these policies and standard with a continuous improvement system that focuses on the total quality of the organization. It also needs to implement these policies properly and monitor these activities periodically.

References

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