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Accreditation of organised providers of out-of-hours services
One of the central recommendations in the Out-of-Hours Review was that all organised providers of out-of-hours services should be accredited, with the quality of the service they provided judged against an explicit set of Quality Standards.
Accreditation would be the means by which the quality of those services would be assured, but it would also act as an important new form of ongoing, developmental support to all providers as they work continuously to improve the quality of the service they offer to their patients.
Working in close collaboration with the Quality Unit of the Royal College of General Practitioners, a detailed approach to accreditation was developed during 2001 and, at the end of that year, a number of pilots took place to assess the validity of that approach. The experience of the pilots confirmed that it was well-founded and, with only minor modifications, an Accreditation Handbook was published to the service in the summer of 2002. Training conferences for providers were held during the summer of 2002 and these are being followed by conferences for members of PCT Assessment Teams in December and January 2003. The first assessment visits to organised providers are now taking place and all providers will be visited by the end of March 2004.
Regulations
New regulations provide the framework within which accreditation is delivered. An overview of these changes can be found in New Regulations Supporting the Modernisation of Out-of-Hours Services
. The regulations themselves, with supporting commentary are also available:
A version of the roles and responsibilities document for all those involved in the delivery of GP out-of-hours services, first published Summer 2002, has now been updated and revised: Modernising Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services, Notes for PCTs, GPs and Organised Providers in Respect of Accreditation and Reporting. This document takes account of the changes in the process which were embodied in the revised regulations.
Providers Reporting to PCTs
An Excel template has been developed to help providers make their regular reports to PCTs. The template is accessed through the Accreditation Reporting System, which is a secure website allowing all organised providers of out-of-hours services to download a blank accreditation template; for providers integrated with NHS Direct, it will also enable the provider and the NHS Direct site with which they are integrated to upload and download data in such a way that the provider will then be able to submit a completed report to the PCT. A more detailed explanation of the origins of template and the purpose for which it has been designed can be found here.
Access to the system is password controlled, and all the communication between the user's PC and the website are encrypted. For your organisation to be able to use the system, you must register a nominated individual. Requests are validated by the Out-of-Hours Team. You will receive an e-mail confirming your registration once the request has been approved. Please note that, until your request is approved, you will not be able to use the system. You can initiate your registration here
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