Your guide to the QSF audit
We have developed an easy to follow guide below to help applicants better understand the QSF audit process.
It's not an onerous process and involves people from across an organisation. We are looking for outcomes during our audits. How you achieve these outcomes is flexible as long as there is evidence of consistent and applied quality we'll be happy, and you'll be happy!
How does the audit scheme work?
Firstly, have a read through all the standards and service delivery modules, which can be found here.
You can then arrange a discussion with one of our Associates who can talk through the audit process with you.
You are best thinking and planning the audit process as a proper project, setting milestones, objectives and deciding who will participate in the process with you.
All outstanding invoices must be paid prior to the audit visits.
What is the application process?
The application is a two-step process. We suggest that when you think you are a third of the way through your preparation, we can arrange for one of our auditors to visit you to conduct a Stage 1 audit. This will help you prepare and will give you an idea of how far along the journey you are. The information you glean from this day, will help your action plans moving forward.
The Stage 2 Audit must be completed within 4-months of your Stage 1 visit. This will be a full validation of all the evidence you have provided in advance of the visit.
The duration of the visit will normally be between 1 and 2.5 days, depending on the number of modules you are audited against.
What is the decision Process?
Following your audit, the auditor will compile a report on their findings and make a recommendation for certification, or they may say that there are some areas for improvement.
This report writing process may take up to 21 days. This will then be forwarded for moderation, to ensure we are making the correct decisions in an equitable way. The moderation period can take up to a further 10 days.
Following this and when the report has been signed off for sending to you, we will evaluate all the evidence, ensure the correct internal processes have been followed for TEC Quality and a decision will be made. You will be notified of this and will also receive a copy of the report.
For the report and for certification purposes, we use a *Compliant' rating system –
These are - Compliant, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.
Compliant - Fully meets the standard
Requires Improvement - Does not meet the standards, but is not safety related. Auditees are allowed 3 months to rectify any improvement needs.
Inadequate - Does not meet the standards, but may also be a safety related improvement need, which needs urgent attention. Audited organisations will be allowed 1 month to rectify these improvement needs.
In all cases, any identified improvement needs must be cleared off, before certification can be granted.
What will the scope of the audit be?
TEC Quality limits the scope of the audit to the 10 Common Standards and Service Delivery Modules of the QSF, unless an extension of scope has been discussed and agreed.
Please be reminded that if you provide a particular element of service delivery covered by our standards, it is now mandatory to be audited against them.
You must confirm with the TEC Quality Admin team what services you provide prior to the audit, so that we can prepare for this properly.
This will also apply at your annual renewal. You need to inform us of any changes, this will include any new services, or any that you no longer provide.
It is your responsibility to demonstrate compliance to the standards and our responsibility is to ensure we gather enough evidence to make a balanced judgement.
TEC Quality auditors have been trained to ISO 19011 standards, and we follow the principles of this standard when conducting the audits.
What happens when I have an on-site audit?
When your next on-site audit is due, we will arrange for the auditor to contact you and make arrangements for a visit to your premises.
We ask you to upload your evidence to our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) portal, so that the auditor can assess this for completeness and relevance, before they come to visit. This needs to be done 4 weeks before the audit taking place. If this is not achieved, we will need to cancel the audit and re-book a date, which will mean additional cost.
They will verify the evidence you have provided. This could be through discussions with staff, service users, partners and commissioners. We suggest that you prepare an agenda for the audit, which will be agreed with the auditor in advance. This is especially important if you are having outside organisations helping to support your audit.
How does the remote audit work?
This is an interim, or maintenance audit to ensure that all is still well before your next full audit. We ask you to upload any changed documentation to our CRM (we suggest you provide an index of these changes), along with any other significant service change information and Key performance Indicator statistics.
This will be reviewed by the auditor prior to an on-line conversation with your staff, using something like Skype, GoToMeeting, Webex, or even a telephone call.
If this goes well, your certification will continue.
If however, on previous audits things have not gone so well, we do reserve the right to make the annual audit an on-site visit.
What is the decision Process?
Following your audit, the auditor will compile a report on their findings and make a recommendation for certification, or they may say that there are some areas for improvement.
This report writing process may take up to 21 days. This will then be forwarded for moderation, to ensure we are making the correct decisions in an equitable way. The moderation period can take up to a further 10 days.
Following this and when the report has been signed off for sending to you, we will evaluate all the evidence, ensure the correct internal processes have been followed for TEC Quality and a decision will be made. You will be notified of this and will also receive a copy of the report.
For the report and for certification purposes, we use a *Compliant' rating system –
These are - Compliant, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.
Compliant
- Fully meets the standard
Requires Improvement
- Does not meet the standards, but is not safety related. Auditees are allowed 3 months to rectify any improvement needs.
Inadequate
- Does not meet the standards, but is also considered to be a safety related improvement need, which requires urgent attention. Audited organisations will be allowed 1 month to rectify these improvement needs.
In all cases, any identified improvement needs must be cleared off, before certification can be granted.
What happens if...
We are successful?
If the audit has gone well, we will notify you and send you your certificate of compliance. We will also put you on our register of compliant organisations on the TEC Quality website.
We are un-successful?
The scheme belongs to TSA and their emphasis is on support. They are the industry experts and can help bring you to the required level.
If following the audit, there are improvements that are required before we can grant certification, you will need to put a formal action plan together, which must be sent to us within 28 days of receiving your report. This will then be assessed by your auditor for compliance. There may be some modifications required by the auditor, but once they have agreed, we can move you forward for certification. The auditor will however, identify a monitoring period where we will ensure that your action plan is being progressed.
