Governance
Effective governance is essential to the provision of safe and effective care services within Three Steps. To achieve this, those in a leadership role are expected and supported to:
- be clear about their area(s) of responsibility.
- be able to oversee their area(s) of responsibility in as much detail and as close to real-time as possible.
- ensure that their area of responsibility is delivering and supporting the delivery of safe and effective care at all times. When issues arise, and corrective actions are needed, they are effective and carried out promptly.
- to communicate quickly and clearly their inability to achieve the above where this occurs, to insist they are heard, and to insist assistance is provided whenever it is needed.
Audit
Our Quality Assurance Service Manager carries out regular care-related audits that aim to satisfy us as to the safety and wellbeing of the children, young people, and adults in our care. Our audits are based on relevant legislation, regulations and national standards and are carried out using comprehensive templates specifically developed to support this vital function.
Following each audit, our findings are discussed at length to ensure we fully understand and learn from mistakes we may have made and opportunities we may have missed. We then implement fully the recommendations that have been made to improve the care we provide.
Inspection
Our services are subject to comprehensive registration processes, and our centres are routinely inspected by HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) and Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS).
While our inspection outcomes are positive, and all our centres are registered without any quality or performance-related conditions, we never allow ourselves to become complacent about our work. Instead, we remain focused on and committed to improving the quality of care we provide every day.
If you would like to read our recent inspection reports, please click on the link below.
Training
Twice each year, we carry out a Training Needs Analysis to help us determine the training our care teams may need to provide the highest quality of care possible to each child, young person and adult placed within our centres. From this analysis, a comprehensive Training Programme is developed and delivered across the service.
To ensure key processes are implemented consistently within the service, our Service Manager with responsibility for Quality Assurance delivers training in these areas to our managers and care teams, which is followed by testing and retraining as needed. This training is provided in small groups to achieve positive training outcomes.
Feedback
As an organisation that values care, partnership, and proficiency, we welcome every opportunity to learn about the quality of care we provide and how that care is experienced every day.
Much of the feedback we receive comes to us through conversation and professional meetings. We also have processes in place to actively seek out the views of the children, young people and adults in our centres and their families and the professionals who work with and represent them.
We consistently receive feedback that is positive about the quality and warmth of the care we provide, about the quality of our clinical support, and about the professional and transparent manner in which we deliver our services.
Of course, the feedback we receive is not always positive – we receive complaints too. When we receive complaints, especially care-related complaints, we work quickly and collaboratively to resolve and learn from them. To achieve this, our senior management team meets regularly to review complaints we have received with a view to ensuring they are responded to in an open, respectful, and timely manner.
