Quality and audit in occupational health (original) (raw)
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Quality in occupational health
Croner Special Reports, 2007
Quality and audit in Occupational Health (OH) have been in the professional press since 19951, but the issue of quality has shot to the top of the government’s agenda for Occupational Health in the last few months2. “Measuring what matters” is the headline message of the 2005 Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection. In a recent government announcement, financial support has been promised for new projects in the NHS to provide better quality occupational health services. Rosie Winterton said "The funding of these schemes highlights the importance of occupational health services and their important role in supporting health, safety and well being in both the workforce and the community. The chosen sites are excellent examples of the good work going on throughout the NHS to reduce ill health and accidents, and improve employee morale and performance in the NHS and beyond."2 The Healthcare Commission (HCA) also launched a new web service in December 2006, to provide the public with information about performance in independent sector treatment centres. Although this does not specifically refer to Occupational Health providers, Anna Walker, Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission said “All healthcare providers should be accountable to the communities they serve.” 3 Whether in house or via third party arrangement, occupational health serves the working population within client organisations and is therefore accountable to its service users and their representatives. Although many of the larger OH providers sit within divisions of larger insurance companies, and are therefore subject to the Financial Services Authority rules and regulations, the self-assessment tool4 provides a useful checklist for benchmarking against NHS service providers. Having participated in this self-assessment process as part of a clinical governance strategy group, I believe that this will become a customer-friendly and recognisable industry standard that providers will use to market themselves.
Quality assessment in occupational health services: a review
International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health, 2002
Various understanding of occupational health services (OHS) roles, structures and functions in European counties depends mainly on the legal, financial and organizational issues, which influence the health of employees. The OHS aims and functions are often related to public health, and/or to the management of enterprises. In consequence, quality assessment (QA) of OHS is used in the management of enterprises and the implementation of health policy. The study was performed to delineate the methods and techniques used in OHS QA and to find the most useful ones, which might be applied in Polish occupational health services. The web pages, current literature, and international reports on OHS were reviewed. The OHS tasks, activities and methods for OHS QA are different in different European countries. Numerous voluntary methods are believed to be more effective, but their effectiveness is not as yet unequivocally proven. Quality assessment methods in Polish OHS are more similar to those ...
2016
This thesis is dedicated to my wife Fayron, our daughter Scarlet, my parents, Jeff and Eleanor, for their love, support, sacrifice and understanding. Acknowledgements: I was the main researcher and made a considerable contribution to the conception and design of this project, data acquisition, collection, extraction, analysis, interpretation of data and the writing of this manuscript.
Clinical audit and quality improvement - time for a rethink?
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2012
Evidence of the benefits of clinical audit to patient care is limited, despite its longevity. Additionally, numerous attitudinal, professional and organizational barriers impede its effectiveness. Yet, audit remains a favoured quality improvement (QI) policy lever. Growing interest in QI techniques suggest it is timely to re-examine audit. Clinical audit advisors assist health care teams, so hold unique cross-cutting perspectives on the strategic and practical application of audit in NHS organizations. We aimed to explore their views and experiences of their role in supporting health care teams in the audit process. Method Qualitative study using semi-structured and focus group interviews. Participants were purposively sampled (n = 21) across health sectors in two large Scottish NHS Boards. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and a thematic analysis performed. Results Work pressure and lack of protected time were cited as audit barriers, but these hide other reasons for non-engagement. Different professions experience varying opportunities to participate. Doctors have more opportunities and may dominate or frustrate the process. Audit is perceived as a time-consuming, additional chore and a managerially driven exercise with no associated professional rewards. Management failure to support and resource changes fuels low motivation and disillusionment. Audit is regarded as a 'political' tool stifled by inter-professional differences and contextual constraints. Conclusions The findings echo previous studies. We found limited evidence that audit as presently defined and used is meeting policy makers' aspirations. The quality and safety improvement focus is shifting towards 'alternative' systems-based QI methods, but research to suggest that these will be any more impactful is also lacking. Additionally, identified professional, educational and organizational barriers still need to be overcome. A debate on how best to overcome the limitations of audit and its place alongside other approaches to QI is necessary.
Challenges facing occupational health services in the 21st century
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 1999
The mission and tasks of occupational health services are reviewed in the context of the global megatrends of productivity increase, population overgrowth, and the implications of changes in the technology of information and communication. Current trends in attempts to achieve harmonization with respect to the concept and tasks of occupational health services in the European Union are described, along with the basic features of occupational health services as a human service organization with implications for the setting of objectives and criteria for assessing quality and performance and ethics. The need to adopt a quality-focused approach to occupational health service programs is emphasized, and some of the inhibitions and obstacles to quality work are mentioned. The need for professional commitment to develop and implement quality concepts is outlined. Evidence-based health care in the setting of occupational health services and some salient aspects of professional ethics in the 21st century are commented on. Key terms evidence-based occupational health practice, occupational health services research, professional ethics in occupational health services, quality criteria of occupational health service performance, quality improvement of occupational health services.