Our Immunology and Allergy Unit has been recognised for providing high quality care by a national programme.
The East Yorkshire Regional Adult Immunology and Allergy Unit at Castle Hill Hospital recently received the results of an assessment by QPIDS, which is the accreditation programme for primary immunodeficiency services in the UK.
The inspection took place in June. Assessors listened to a presentation delivered by Dr Sujoy Khan, who’s the Clinical Lead for the service. They conducted a walk round of the area, spoke to patients attending clinic and interviewed the team.
Some of the findings from the report showed:
- A well-written, concise operational plan
- A cohesive team
- Patients were very complimentary about the service
- A bright and clean hospital environment.
Dr Khan, Consultant Immunologist and Allergist, said: “This is the first time we’ve received this accreditation. We’ve been trying to get it for a while now but COVID hit, and we had to put it on the backburner. We want to use the most advanced treatments available, and having this accreditation helps us pitch for these specialist options.”
Accreditation is a supportive process of evaluating the quality of clinical services against established standards. It promotes quality improvement through highlighting areas of best practice and areas for change, encouraging the continued development of the clinical service.
Beccy Avison, Immunology Clinical Nurse Specialist: “It gives our patients more confidence they’re getting a better service. We feel very proud to be given this recognition.”
Services participating in primary immunodeficiency accreditation work to a pathway, which involves self-assessment and improvement against the standards. These have been developed with a multi-professional group of clinicians, managers, and patient representatives. Services can take anywhere between 12 to 24 months to be ready for an assessment, though this timeframe does vary depending on the support and time available. There’s no set deadline to have an assessment and the QPIDS team understand there are many factors influencing how services progress.
Victoria Armstrong, General Manager for Infection and Immunity, said: “The assessors fed back how impressed they had been with the Immunology team and the great work they’re doing on a daily basis, which had been mentioned by the patients. The team pulled together to ensure evidence was provided for all the amazing work done by the specialty. They really do deserve this.”
Services awarded accreditation submit evidence annually to demonstrate they’re continuing to meet the standards, and have a five-yearly on-site assessment carried out by an experienced assessment team.
By participating in accreditation, services are enrolled on an ongoing programme of improvement. Between the site assessments, there’s an annual remote review of key pieces of evidence to show the service is maintaining the QPIDS standards.
The team are not letting it stop there, as they’re currently preparing for their next challenge which is to gain accreditation for the Allergy specialty.