Quality Visits
What to expect from a Quality Review and the documents used by the Quality Assurance Team.
The Disabilities Quality Assurance Team review the care and support delivered by commissioned Providers to ensure it is a high standard and that services are fulfilling their contractual obligations. Review visits are normally pre-arranged (only in exceptional circumstances are they unannounced) and are reviewed against the standards set out in the Quality Assessment Framework (QAF). Quality Review Officers collect information and evidence by looking around the service, talking to support staff and the individuals supported and reviewing documentation.
PAMMS Assessment
- Quality reviews are conducted using the Quality Assurance (QA) module of the Provider Assessment and Market Management Solutions (PAMMS).
The QA module is a digital assessment tool using a Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) developed for each service type. The assessments have question sets in the following areas:
- Guidance is available against each question and both questions and guidance are made available to the provider ahead of assessment.
- There are six sections in which to assess the provider’s quality
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- Assessment, care planning and reviews
- Service user experience
- Care worker knowledge and understanding
- Staff training and recruitment
- Environment, equipment and general safety
- Leadership, quality assurance and management
A rating is generated for each question and each of the 16 standards leading to an overall rating. Ratings are:-
We have Easy read documents available explaining the purpose of our visit and what are we asking during the assessment.
Supporting and recognising good practice.
The team has developed a guide to help support providers deliver good quality of care across all adult care settings. Quality Assessment Compliance Guide
Quality Review Officers highlight good practice in their reports. Best practice will be recognised and (with permission) shared with others.
What happens if the review identifies some areas for improvement?
Completed assessments will be sent to the Provider. An action plan is created by the provider to address improvements required.
The Quality Review Officer will re-visit the service (either remotely or in person) to look at what the Provider has done to address each action point.
If a Provider does not address the actions in the given time or to a satisfactory standard then the Quality Review Officer will follow the Disability Quality Improvement Pathway. (PDF, 182.9 KB)
Who has access to the information gathered from the Quality Review visits?
The Quality Review assessment will be shared directly with the commissioned provider, it is not shared with families, individuals supported or members of the public. It is kept internally by the Council and its partner agencies i.e. NHS Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire NHS Health & Care Foundation Trust. Family members and people supported are advised to approach the Provider directly if they wish to see a Quality Review assessment.
We share ratings with the Care Quality Commission (for registered services only) and have an information sharing protocol with the Council's Safeguarding Teams to ensure we share critical information about people's safety.
Which Providers receive Quality Reviews?
The Quality Assurance Team reviews supported living services, residential care homes, domiciliary care services, day centres and in-patient units where it has commissioned services. This can be in Gloucestershire or further afield.
You can feedback your views on the quality assurance process by following this link or by scanning the QR code.
