Summary
The Department of Health has commissioned the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), jointly with Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), to carry-out a pilot study into whether social care providers find care audits useful, and how such audits might be developed. The Dementia Care Audit will be based on NICE Quality Standards.
“Care audit is a quality improvement cycle that involves review of the effectiveness of social care and social work practice against agreed and proven standards for high quality, and taking action to bring practice in line with these standards so as to improve the quality of care, experience and outcomes for people who use services and carers”. (HQIP)
Care homes in England have been invited to take part in his pilot. The pilot study should help care homes to audit their support for residents with dementia, and also to compare their services with those offered elsewhere. Care homes taking part in the pilot will receive training and support from SCIE.
Read more: SCIE. Dementia care audit: pilot in care homes.
Reference
Dementia care audit: pilot in care homes. London: Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), September 2013.