Summary
This article discusses work underway to assess the quality of memory services across the UK as the provision of these services expands. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched the Memory Services National Accreditation Programme (MSNAP), which adopts a three stage process:
- Self review: the MSNAP team sends documents to the service providers. These include questionnaires for patients, carers, referrers, and staff; a case notes audit; a checklist; self review guidelines; and a copy of the relevant standards. The service collects information and returns this for the MSNAP Project Team to compile the data.
- Peer review visits: an MSNAP Review Team of four people (two clinicians, one service user or carer, and a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ MSNAP Team) visits the service to validate the self review data supplied by the memory service. The review team investigates the experiences of service users, carers, and staff, and examines the service in action, Strengths and weaknesses discovered are discussed, with a feedback session and opportunities to share ideas, make suggestions and offer advice.
- Accreditation: the review team submits findings to the MSNAP Accreditation Committee, which makes recommendation on whether the service should be awarded accreditation. The recommendation is sent to the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ special committee for professional practice and ethics. The four possible outcomes from the committee’s considerations are: (i) accredited as excellent; (ii) accredited; (iii) accreditation deferred, for a period to allow for corrections; or (iv) not accredited.
Reference
Agrawal, S. (2013). Assessing the quality of memory services. BMJ Careers, May 11th 2013; 346 (7907): GP3 (Supplement).
Full Text Link (b) (website)
Reference
Royal College of Psychiatrists. Memory Services National Accreditation Programme. College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI), 2013. (Online).
[A brief reference to this item features in Dementia and Elderly Care: the Latest Evidence Newsletter (RWNHST), Volume 3 Issue 9, August 2013].
