What does accreditation mean in healthcare?
Healthcare accreditation ensures patients are receiving quality treatment from well-trained industry professionals and allows the maintenance of this high standard of service. Through seeking accreditation, a company’s standards of care can be increased, whilst decreasing the potential risks, and allowing healthcare organisations to work under the correct regulatory guidelines.
What is the difference between accreditation and certification in a healthcare organisation?
Certification is the written endorsement (a form of documentation) of a company’s product or service by a third party, signifying that a product or service meets a specific set of requirements. Accreditation, however, recognises a company’s ability to carry out certain technical activities, via an impartial and qualified third party. The accreditation process involves we checking for a company’s quality against our standards, alongside national frameworks, and regulations. Trainers are also checked against CQC (Care Quality Commission), Skills for Care, NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and various other industry bodies.
What are different healthcare accreditations?
There are various accreditations catered towards healthcare – CQC, NICE and Skills for Care being several of the most recognised. However, healthcare accreditations can be built around each individual company’s needs and requirements, in order to maximise the quality of healthcare and care training given.
Is accreditation mandatory for healthcare facilities?
Although not mandatory, accreditation is often voluntarily sought by healthcare organisations as it can be a necessity for licencing and certification. This also aids an organisation’s credibility and ensures care receivers feel confident about the quality of the care that they are receiving.
What are the benefits of accreditation in healthcare?
Not only does accreditation provide benefits such as improving an organisation’s CQC rating, improving staff skills, increasing the brand’s image and guarantee quality assurance for service users, it also benefits many other areas of a healthcare organisation’s service. These benefits include: increasing knowledge and ability and retention among staff, proving support for staff and care receivers, creating ready to use and accessible courses, and ensuring more time in spent on care. These factors increase the sustainability of the training services a company provides.
What are accreditation requirements in healthcare?
There are various criteria we uphold for healthcare organisations, focusing on the trainers, the centres, and the courses themselves:
- How qualified are the staff involved in the training in healthcare?
- Who is providing the training?
- How qualified is the training provider in healthcare?
- Is the centre appropriate for the training?
- Is all necessary medical equipment available?
- Are all safety procedures followed in this environment?
- Does the course provide the necessary skills and knowledge needed by healthcare workers?
- Is the quality of the course high?
- Is the course well-presented?
How do you maintain healthcare accreditation?
The most important factor in maintaining healthcare accreditation is consistency. Companies should prioritize focusing on the accreditation requirements of the accreditation provider, completing annual reports to verify that these standards are being consistently maintained to a high standard and applying for approval for any significant changes in training courses.
How do you obtain healthcare accreditation?
You can sign up online for healthcare accreditation.
Further reading: Accreditation for Health and Social Care providers
