Quality Assurance Policy
Centre Name:
Introduction
For any organisation to be successful it is essential that customers’ requirements are fully met. Compass Disability Services is committed to providing the best services possible and needs to be able to demonstrate that it provides quality services and manages the organisation efficiently and effectively.
In an increasingly competitive market it is critical that Compass Disability Services is able to evidence our commitment to quality to partners, customers, potential employees and volunteers.
What is Quality Assurance?
Quality assurance is the process of verifying or determining whether products or services meet or exceed customer expectations. Quality assurance is a process-driven approach with specific steps to help define and attain goals.
This process considers design, development, implementation and evaluation. It is essentially about learning what we are doing well and striving to do it even better. It also means finding out what we may need to change to make sure we meet the needs of our customers.
Quality Assurance in Practice
As a customer-led organisation, we endeavour to understand current and future customers’ needs and will strive to meet customers’ requirements and exceed expectations at all times.
There is a shared understanding throughout the organisation about what we are trying to achieve and how we are trying to achieve it. This involves:
- Agreeing quality objectives, reviewing their relevance and monitoring performance against objectives regularly
- Ensuring that our customers know what to expect from us
- Having a Board and management team in place who can provide clear vision and direction
- Having all policies and procedures documented and reviewed
- Having a Business Plan that details our strategic priorities for the next five years
- Having work planning tools with measurable outcomes
- Developing a Personal Development Plan for each employee to ensure that they have the relevant skills and expertise
- Using effective communication tools to keep everyone informed
- Actively participating in the audit process, both internal and external, in order to drive continual improvement.
There is a technical infrastructure capable of supporting the delivery of our aims and strategic priorities.
There are the necessary resources in place to support the delivery of our aims and strategic priorities.
There are monitoring procedures in place to ensure that policies and procedures are being implemented and are effective.
We have positive relationships with our partners and others working in our field to enable us to share experiences and resources, to pool expertise and work in partnership in the best interest of our customers.
We evaluate all activity on a continual basis and use the feedback gained to inform the development of our policies, Business Plan, Work Plans, Personal Development Plans and our Equality Analysis Action Plan.
Quality Marks
There are various industry quality marks and affiliations that demonstrate that an organisation has effective quality management systems in place.
Compass Disability Services will hold at least one that is easily recognised within our field and seen to be synonymous with quality. This will be assessed on an annual basis to ensure that it is still the most relevant for the organisation.
Responsibilities
Ultimate responsibility for the implementation of this policy rests with the Board of Trustees. They are responsible for ensuring that the policy is reviewed, ensuring that the organisation is in a position to deliver quality services as described above.
The Chief Executive is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Quality Assurance Policy and ensuring that all managers are adhering to their responsibilities.
The managers’ responsibilities fall primarily with the Finance and HR Manager in terms of ensuring that quality assurance processes are assigned to relevant employees and volunteers and that adequate and appropriate training is delivered to enable all employees and volunteers to deliver the required standards.
Achievement of this policy’s aims involves all employees and volunteers. In order for the organisation to be successful every person must understand our customers’ needs and be responsible and accountable for the quality of their work.
Policy Revisions
This policy will be reviewed every five years and amended as necessary, or earlier in accordance with any forthcoming legislation. All employees should pass suggestions or recommendations for the revision of any aspect of the policy through normal channels to the Chief Executive.