The QSF - So What?

Jane Turner-Bragg • Apr 19, 2021

Jane Turner-Bragg previously worked as Head of Service – Older People for Bromford Housing Group. Now she is one of TSA’s Quality Standards Framework (QSF) auditors. Here she gives the auditor's view and you may be pleasantly surprised...

QSF. So What?

This is the best question any leader can ask in their business.

‘So what’ if we make a few mistakes; ‘So what’ if we don’t have time to look at every complaint; ‘So what’ if we didn’t get right first time;‘So what’ if that commissioner thinks we didn’t offer best value for money.

In this sector the products are largely the same - it’s the scale; the price; the opportunity; the commitment to improve; the innovation and the service that are different.Wherever you are in the market, whatever your strategy and vision for the future, what will mark you out is that you have the essential ingredients sorted -

  • Demand high standards
  • Ensure excellent outcomes
  • Back it up with a superb service
  • Put the service user at the heart of what you do
  • Strive for safe services
  • Continually improve and innovate

That adage ‘people forget what you say, people forget what you do, but people never forget how you made them feel’ is so true of this industry.

That’s where QSF can help -the 10 modules cover the fundamental must do essentials for achieving excellence in your business, whether you are a provider or a supplier. They exist not just for auditing - they are a foundation tool for business development and service transformation – much like a business health-check . They will help you design your vision of ‘what great looks like’ and ensure you know when you have achieved it.

One of our certified members said it has helped them safely “take positive risks within a framework” – removing the guesswork.

Embedding QSF in your business will plot where you are on your journey, and what next steps are.With the support of TEC Quality Auditor and the TSA team, it will ensure you ask yourself the right questions; accurately assess the status of your business and areas for improvement; enable you to prioritise/plan/achieve and then review outcomes. As well as checking your progress, your auditor will give you industry good practice style tips and advice about things that work well elsewhere.

So in summary - use the QSF as a self-assessment tool to ensure you to have a very clear picture of where you are and the journey you need to take, but have your service independently validated. You can use the QSF principles every day. It can help you most if you adopt it as a ‘live’ plan and keep refering to it throughout the business to shape, flex, monitor and deliver your key priorities - the things that matter most to your customers, commissioners and partners.

As one certified telemonitoring head said: "the QSF doesn't stop at the end of the audit - the benefits of staying within the scheme it is that it keeps us 'match-fit' - policies and procedures are not frozen in time and as they're constantly shifting the QSF stops us from dropping our standards, keeping our service users safe and our workforce happy."

You don’t have to be perfect to be 'excellent' - but QSF will help you to know where the weaknesses are so you can tackle them today and save the heartache of tomorrow.

Jane Turner-Bragg
TEC Quality Associate Auditor

www.tecquality.org.uk

DHSC asks councils and care providers to check if their TEC suppliers and service providers are QSF-certified

19 May, 2023
The Department for Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) newly published framework to support good digital working in adult social care has recommended that local authorities and care providers ask organisations that supply them with TEC products and services if they have signed up to the Quality Standards Framework (QSF). DHSC’s What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework, co-developed with the adult social care sector, Local Government Association and Association for Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), provides a collective set of goals for digital leads, directors of adult social services, commissioners and service managers to work towards as they take steps towards digitisation. Under Success Measure 6, which focuses on how to improve care, the framework states, 'when seeking evidence of quality, safety, innovation and continuous improvement, ask organisations providing TEC products and services if they have signed up to the Quality Standards Framework, a scheme run by TEC Quality (a subsidiary of the TEC Services Association) and the only United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), one for TEC in the UK'. This recognition of QSF and the assurance it provides, follows the work Alyson Scurfield, CEO of TSA has been doing with the Digital Social Care Advisory Group (DSCAG), the DHSC Transformation Team and NHS England on their wider collection of What Good Looks Like guidance to support health and social care leaders with digital transformation. It also chimes with endorsement of QSF from NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard in 2022 when she urged Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to commission QSF-certified TEC Responders to work with Urgent Community Response (UCR) teams to ease winter pressures. Both Amanda Pritchard and DHSC’s What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework highlighted QSF’s UKAS accreditation – showing the high quality of its certification process. Alyson Scurfield, CEO of TSA said: “There is very clear messaging in DHSC’s new guidance for social care commissioners. It directly recommends they seek proof of the quality of their TEC suppliers and service providers by checking if they are QSF-certified. Signing up to QSF gives commissioners confidence in an organisation’s products and services but it also instils confidence internally. Receiving external validation is a huge milestone for a TEC organisation. It’s hard proof of the skill, competency and quality of their staff, services and solutions.” Sir David Pearson, chair of TEC Quality said: “Technology enabled care can support individuals and their families proactively, helping to address their needs and aspirations. But this will only happen safely and effectively if high standards and quality improvement are the bedrock of all services and products supplied by TEC organisations. DHSC’s What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework recommends that social care commissioners check this bedrock by ensuring their TEC suppliers and service providers are QSF-certified.” Find out how your organisation can become QSF-certified by contacting us at admin@tecquality.org.uk .

CQC's Former Senior National GP Advisor Joins TEC Quality Board

27 Sep, 2022
Nigel Sparrow OBE, who worked with the chief inspector of general practice to implement the UK’s regulatory system for GPs, has been appointed as a non-executive director of TEC Quality, the body that runs the Quality Standards Framework (QSF). A GP himself for 30 years, Nigel was senior national GP advisor and responsible officer at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), England’s independent regulator of health and social care. During this time he was part of CQC’s senior leadership team, working on GP regulation and creating guidance and mythbusters about the inspection of GP services. Currently, Nigel Sparrow chairs the GP advisory board at Target Ovarian Cancer. He liaises with key stakeholders in primary care and has developed e-learning educational modules for GPs. Sir David Pearson, chair of TEC Quality said: “Nigel brings vast experience of the health system, specifically medical leadership, quality, standards, regulation and education. His knowledge will be invaluable in positioning QSF as critical to improving the quality of TEC in social care and healthcare.” Nigel Sparrow OBE, non-executive director of TEC Quality said: “Since Covid we’ve seen an explosion in the use of technology in healthcare and we need to make sure it is being used effectively. Everything I’ve done over the years has made sure that people receive the best possible care, and this will be my focus in TEC Quality too. I see a real opportunity to take TEC Quality’s expertise in standard-setting for social care technology and apply it to healthcare technology.”

Quality and Safety of TEC Services Has Never Been More Important

By Sir David Pearson, Chair of TEC Quality • 25 Aug, 2022
The difference that TEC services make to people’s lives never ceases to amaze me. Hearing about call operators and responder teams providing reassurance, comfort and companionship to people and their families reminds me just how invaluable this sector is. These TEC heroes, and the data and digital systems that connect them, give individuals choice and control over their lives. They have renewed confidence to go out and about, they are empowered to do the things that matter to them, with the people they love, in the communities they call home. Supporting Statutory Services But TEC doesn’t just provide independence or join up services around people’s needs. It is an efficient way of supporting health and social care by boosting the efforts of the people working in the sector and connecting individuals and their families with local community services. At a time of immense pressure on the NHS and councils - with record demand post-Covid - TEC services not only make a huge difference to people’s lives, but they have never been more important in supporting service delivery. Enormous Opportunities Around Tech It strikes me that they have never been more innovative either. There is so much ingenuity and opportunity when it comes to internet of things (IoT) TEC devices, sensors, systems and apps that talk to each other over the web. The value of this TEC connectivity was recognised in the government’s recent social care reform and integration white papers, both of which included weighty sections on using tech to support people’s lives and join up their care. But as we begin to translate these policies into reality, the quality, safety and effectiveness of new and existing TEC services and approaches is paramount. That’s why schemes such as the Quality Standards Framework, which helps TEC organisations to achieve certification through a rigorous and ongoing assessment process are vital. Improving Accountability of Services QSF enables providers (and suppliers) to understand how they are performing and what they can do to improve. It drives accountability and gives local authorities confidence that they are commissioning the right services. But crucially, it gives reassurance to people, their relatives and friends. They know that the life-critical services they rely on have reached certain standards and won’t let them down. Innovation is Key to Improving Lives With an unprecedented number of new policy directions around health and social care - including the Health and Care Act which received Royal Assent in April – one of the common connections that binds them all is promoting innovation to improve people’s lives. In last year’s adult social care reform white paper, at least £150 million of funding was allocated to drive greater adoption of technology and achieve wider digitisation. This also extends to housing, with £300 million earmarked to integrate housing into local health and care strategies. Digital is likely to play a key role in making this happen too. The last few years have been difficult ones, but despite this, I am energised about the future. It is our duty, in the care sector, to look for opportunities that support people to achieve their aspirations and enjoy happy lives. I believe that ensuring the quality of TEC services will help to realise this vision. Find out more about the benefits of being QSF-certified: read our TEC Responder Case Studies here
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