Quality matters – quality improvement at CRI

Understanding the service user experience

At CRI we gain a thorough understanding of the service user experience through direct consultation and dialogue about how they experience every part of a service.

Our staff know they must get to know the service user experience and understand their part in improving it. We identify tangible, evidence-based problems in order to reach positive outcomes for service users.

The CRI Quality Improvement Tool (QIT)

The Quality Improvement Tool is designed to identify strengths and development areas and to monitor improvements. It has 3 key elements:

1. Quality Standards for a safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led service
2. Quality Audit Cycle with results stored on our patient safety management system
3. Quality Plans and Toolkits to support quality improvement

Quality Standards

We have created an explicit, strength based and measurable set of quality standards that we use to identify development areas and improve practice on the ground and create a quality improvement loop.

The Quality Standards are user-friendly and multi-functional. They include learning tools, checklists, self-assessment, performance management and audit.

They are used by staff to self-assess, in supervision to benchmark plan improvements and for audit purposes. They are also used as assessment tools in recruitment and as learning tools during induction.

Quality Audit Cycle

Services are audited in January, April, July and October each year.

Staff are audited on the following areas:

• Case Records
• Risk
• Supervision
• Safeguarding
• Medicines Management & Prescribing
• Service User Involvement (SUI)
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Health & Safety
• Incident Reporting & Investigation
• Information Governance

Dashboards give percentage compliance rates for each audit area so that managers can assess whether quality is improving (and in which particular standards). This allows staff to identify specific standards where they need to focus their improvement efforts.

Quality plans and toolkits

Having audited the Quality Standards, managers and staff work together to formulate a service-wide Quality Improvement Plan.

We have also produced a number of tools in conjunction with service users and staff to help with quality improvement, including:

• Top tips
• One page information bulletins on key papers and organisational learning
• Checklists
• Training materials

Improving quality for service users

We acknowledge these are changing times, which require changing practice and methods. By doing things better, we can achieve more with fewer resources. This gives rise to exciting, creative new opportunities for the quality agenda involving service users and the workforce alike.