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Cornish accreditation scheme for nursing and residential care homes

In 2001 HQS worked with Cornwall Healthcare Trust to develop a locally-based accreditation scheme in Penwith, West Cornwall, for nursing homes and residential care homes providing services for older people with a psychiatric disorder. HQS acted in a consultancy capacity to work with a local steering group on every stage of the project from standards development through to the design and implementation of the assessment process. The first step was to develop the standards to be used. The seven standards cover:

—Care of clients
—Lifestyle and activities
—Environment for care
—Management of the establishment
—Communication
—Staff experience
—Quality

They are derived from the results of local focus group discussions, the expertise of the professionals involved from the community mental health team and the nursing and residential care home sector and existing publications such as the Audit Commission report 'Forget Me Not' and 'Home from Home' the HQS standards for nursing and residential care homes.

HQS then ran a workshop day for the homes on implementing the standards and preparing for external review. The next stage was to train local assessors for the scheme. There was concern about who would be appropriate assessors, ensuring that there was no conflict of interest. It was therefore decided to approach Age Concern, who already run a very successful local advocacy service, to ask if the charity would be interested in managing the assessment element for the accreditation scheme. Age Concern was confident that volunteer assessors of the right calibre could be recruited and was very keen to be involved. HQS facilitated a two-day recruitment and selection event, attended by 20 applicants, of whom 17 were selected as assessors for the scheme.

The accreditation scheme is now established and has already demonstrated the commitment of healthcare providers in the area to quality.