Quality of Care Audit Programme for Orchard Fostering

“HCI provided us with an independent Quality of Care Audit Programme to assess our compliance against the National Standards for Foster Care (2003). The HCI Quality and Safety Specialists really understood the Standards and their application. They provide us with a comprehensive report after each audit, which clearly identified the areas for improvement. The onsite audits were also a great learning opportunity for our staff as they gained valuable quality and safety knowledge during interactions with the HCI specialists. Overall, this was a fantastic audit programme and we would highly recommend HCI to other health and social care services for independent quality of care assurance.”

Jenny Sinnott

Managing Director, Orchard Fostering

Background

Orchard Fostering is an independent provider of foster care services across Ireland. Working in partnership with Tusla, Orchard Fostering aim to provide children and young people with a positive care experience. They also provide foster care and support lodging to a wide range of children and young people of all ages and cultures with a variety of different needs.

Given Orchard Fostering’s commitment to providing a high-quality service, they recognised the value of having an external expert to provide independent quality assurance of the organisation’s compliance with the National Standards for Foster Care (2003). Consequently, Orchard Fostering Services requested HCI to provide them with an independent Quality of Care Audit Programme.

Objectives

To complete a Quality of Care Audit Programme for Orchard Fostering to determine the organisation’s compliance with the National Standards for Foster Care (2003).
To provide a report for each audit detailing areas of good practice and a line listing of opportunities for improvement with the Standards.
To provide independent oversight of the Quality and Safety Management System (QSMS).

Solution

In order to ensure Orchard Fostering operates in line with the National Standards for Foster Care (2003), HCI provided the following service:

Project Plan and development of audit schedule.

Offsite documentation review.

4 one day onsite audits against the National Standards for Foster Care (2003).

Analysis of Findings.

Development of Audit Reports.

Client reviews and signs off reports.

Staff interview preparation support for HIQA Inspections.

Challenge

During the audits, HCI didn’t interact with the young people in the home environment setting. However, HCI did conduct telephone interview with the foster carers to get their feedback.

Outcome

HCI conducted 4 one day audits for Orchard Fostering. Each audit focused on a different theme within the National Standards for Foster Care (2003).

The outcome of this Audit Programme ensures that the care and services delivered by Orchard Fostering is in compliance with the National Standards.

The Audit Programme offered Orchard Fostering independent oversight of their QSMS and created a culture of safety that focuses on learning and driving quality improvement.

Benefits

Comprehensive and independent review of processes.
Provides external validation of the Quality and Safety Management System.
High risk areas are identified and addressed appropriately.
Expert Regulatory, Quality and Safety knowledge is continuously being transferred from HCI’s Quality and Safety Specialists to Orchard Fostering’s Management Team and staff.
The audit reports are utilised as a roadmap for improvement and the development of Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs).
Audit findings and learnings are shared amongst the wider Orchard Fostering team to make improvements in all areas.
Positive improvements were noted as the audits progressed.
Improves the quality of care for the children and young people.
Supports regulatory compliance.