Ensuring quality of care
At Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (DCHS) we want everyone to have a positive experience of care, whenever and wherever they use our services.
High quality care is care which is safe, effective, timely and tailored to the needs of the individual.
Our aim is to enable DCHS clinical services to sustain the Quality Always standards which are embedded into the DNA of the organisation.
Thank you,
Sally-ann Coope - Clinical Lead for Quality Always
Quality Always has been introduced to ensure that DCHS always delivers high quality services, regardless of the geographical location or nature of that service or the time at which it is delivered – that's why it's known as ‘Quality Always’.
The process is supported by the DCHS Quality Assurance approach, which consists of We Care, insight visits and external inspection.
Prepare for the assessment
Now's the time to start preparing for your assessment.
Prepare for your CAAS
We're encouraging teams to become familiar with the assessment template. Carry out informal self-assessment, even if they have not had a formal assessment with the Quality Always team so far. This gives teams a better idea of what the assessment involves and how to develop an improvement plan.
This gives teams the support to start from a higher overall baseline score. When it's time for the formal assessment, they are likely to progress through red and amber to green at pace.
Quality & safe care champions (QSCCs) receive support to embed best practice in clinical areas and support improvements to patient care within the Quality Always Clinical Assessment and Accreditation Scheme (CAAS) standards.
Are you interested in becoming a QSCC?
If you are interested in becoming a QSCC please read these QSCC documents with your line manager.
Submit your nomination form
In order to become a QSCC, you must submit a QSCC nomination form to us. Please send your fully completed QSCC nomination forms to DCHST.QualityAlways@nhs.net
Click here to access the QSC Champion Platform via MS Teams - Quality Safe Care Champions Platform
Guides to accessing MS Teams
QSCC domains
- Continence
- Dementia
- Dignity & Inclusion
- End of Life
- Falls
- Infection Prevention & Control
- Lifestyle
- Nutrition & Hydration
- Pain
- Safeguarding
- Tissue viability
- Medication
Click here to go straight to the QSC Champion Platform via MS Teams - Quality Safe Care Champions Platform
DCHS Quality & Safe Care Champion Training Schedule - 2025 is now available to view & access on the following platforms ..
- QSCC MS Teams 'General' Channel QSCCMSTeams (You must be a registered QSC Champion to access) (1) Go to Files (2) Go to Folder - QSCC Training 2025
- QSCC & QA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/QualtyAlways/
If you are a QSC Champion and do not have access to the above platforms - Please email your request to Mikaela Orrill @ DCHST.QualityAlways@nhs.net
Quality & Safe care Champion Training Schedule - 2025/26
MS Teams QSCC Platform
Each Champion domain have their own MS Teams platform (Launched 1st April 2022) There you have access to your Specialist Lead, you can view their updates, Latest resource Information and have conversations /ask questions in the chat should you wish to.
It also gives you the opportunity for Sharing your own 'Good Practice' & 'learning' with all other Champions under the same domain , for eg; uploading resources / examples of work / displays you have created. This proves especially helpful for Staff who are new to becoming a Champion.
Please note , Your name will be automatically added to the members list, however should you wish to opt out please do not hesitate to let us know via dchst.qualityalways@nhs.net and will we remove you from the list or alternately you can opt out by right clicking on the link and selecting ‘Leave the Team’
Quality Always Facebook closed group
This closed group offers a supportive network for QSCC's to aid sharing best practices and reflective thinking. It aims to provide support and advice regarding the Quality Always process for staff members from DCHSFT.
Join the group
- Please send a member request into us by searching 'DCHSFT Quality Always' in Facebook
- Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/QualtyAlways/
We look forward to hearing from you.
Quality Always on Twitter
Follow the Quality Always team on Twitter to keep up to date with some of our news.
Show us some of your champion work, let us know your thoughts on Quality Always or just drop us a tweet to say hello.
- Tweet @sallyannQA1 and use the #QualityAlways hashtag
- For further information, please email DCHST.QualityAlways@nhs.net
Quality And Safe Care Champion Badges - Do you have yours?
- Quality Always Champion End Of Life & Spirituality
- Quality Always Champion Personalisation
- Quality Always Champion Tissue Viability
- Quality Always Champion Pain
- Quality Always Champion Medication
- Quality Always Champion Dementia
- Quality Always Champion Infection Prevention & Control
- Quality Always Champion Falls
- Quality Always Champion Equality, Dignity & Inclusion
- Quality Always Champion Lifestyle
- Quality Always Champion Continence
- Quality Always Champion Nutrition & Hydration
- Quality Always Champion Safeguarding
To request your badge please email us at DCHST.QualityAlways@nhs.net and we will respond as soon as possible.
Quality Always - assuring high quality services across DCHS
Visit the Quality and Safe Care Champions Hub today!
Facebook: search DCHSFT Quality Always
Twitter: @DCHS_QA
Email: dchst.QualityAlways@nhs.net
Train:
- Cargo
- Specialist and Quality Leads
- Gold panel
- Earned Autonomy
- Table Top Review
- CAAS assessment
- Destination: GOLD
- Next stop: QA plus
Track:
- DCHS policies and procedures
- Local and National guidelines
- CAAS Standards
- Key Lines of Enquiry
- DCHS plan
- Service specifications and KPIs
Meet your crew:
'The Driver' - Clinical Lead - Sally-ann Cooper
'The Conductor' - Quality Always Coordinator - Mikaela Orrill
'The Cabin Crew' - Clinical Assessors - Chris Holloway, Shami Augustin, Ali Pickup, Mary Driver
Standard Menu:
- Organisation and management of the clinical area
- Protection of vulnerable people (children, young people and families)
- Communication and patient experience
- Person centred care
- Patient safety
- Environmental safety
- Infection control
- Public health
- Tissue viability
- Pain management
- Medicines management
- Nutrition and hydration
- Elimination
- End of life care
- Clinical effectiveness
- Older person's mental health and learning disability.