Strategies for Improving Staff Awareness of Policies and Procedures

Introduction

Maintaining high standards of quality and safety is paramount in healthcare. Policies and procedures are central to an organisation as they provide a roadmap for the delivery of patient care that is safe, effective, and based on regulatory and best practice requirements. However, the success of policies and procedures hinges on the staffs’ awareness and adherence to them.

In this blog, we will explore strategies to help improve staff awareness of policies and procedures, fostering a culture of excellence and patient-centered care.

Methods to Improve Staff Awareness of Policies and Procedures

1. Alert Staff through Communication Channels:

Establish regular communication channels to keep staff informed about updates, revisions, and important changes related to policies and procedures. This could include monthly newsletters, email notifications, team meetings, and notice boards. Consistent communication helps to reinforce the importance of adherence and keeps policies at the forefront of employees’ minds.

2. Comprehensive Training Programmes:

Initiate comprehensive training programs that not only educate staff on new policies and procedures but also reinforce existing ones. Utilise various learning methods such as practical workshops, webinars, and interactive sessions. Ensure the training is accessible to all staff members, regardless of their roles within the healthcare organisation.

3. Clear and Accessible Documentation:

Ensure that policies and procedures are documented in a clear, practical, and user-friendly manner. Make these documents easily accessible through an organised and centralised repository. HCI’s PPG Library^TM, is utilised by many health and social care organisation as a centralised repository, providing easy access to Policies, Procedures and Guidelines (PPG) held within the Quality Management Information System. PPGs are categorised specific to the organisation and staff can search for, and view PPGs without having to log into the system. This helps to reduce the barriers to accessing crucial policies and procedures.   

4. Discuss core Policies and Procedures at team meetings:

Discussing policies and procedures at team meetings helps to raise awareness of new or updated policies and procedures. It also provides staff with an opportunity to provide feedback or address queries regarding the application of a policy and procedure. This communication fosters a culture of learning and continuous improvement, ensuring that staff are aware of policies and procedures and how to implement them.

5. Review Staff Acknowledgement of Policies and Procedures:

Regularly check to identify if staff have acknowledged the policies and procedures. This will help to identify if staff are aware of them or if they need a reminder. Utilising a software such as HCI’s PPG Library^TM helps staff to keep on top of their document acknowledgment workload. Within the PPG Library^TM, staff can easily view their acknowledgement workloads, view the policy and procedure, and acknowledge the policy and procedure.

6. Audit staff knowledge:

Conduct internal audits against Policies and Procedures to identify if staff are awareness of the policies and procedure, and if they can apply the procedure in practice.  This will help raise awareness of policies and procedures and identify if further training is required.

7. Include as a KPI in the management meeting:

Include staff awareness of Policies and Procedures as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in the management meeting. HCI’s QualSIP^TM, allows Senior Managers to easily review data around document acknowledgements for departments or organisation-wide, this helps to identify where the gaps are and who may need reminders regarding document workloads.

Conclusion

Improving staff awareness of policies and procedures in healthcare requires a multifaceted approach. By combining regular communication, comprehensive training, clear documentation, internal auditing, and accessible systems, healthcare organisations can create a culture of excellence where the delivery of care is consistently aligned with the high standards of quality and safety set out in Policies and Procedures.

At HCI we help providers of health and social care make intelligence driven decisions to attain, manage and improve quality, safety and regulatory compliance. Our digital health transformation specialists have been implementing Quality Management Information Systems, including document management systems, in health and social care organisations for almost two decades. With our support you can have confidence that you are embedding a best practice system that will allow staff to easily access vital policies and procedures which are central to the delivery of care.

For more information on HCI’s Digital Health Transformation Products and Services contact HCI at 01 629 2559 or info@hci.care.