We are committed to ensuring that social care providers in Wigan provide care and support that is kind, compassionate and of the highest standard.
Our team of Quality Performance Officers undertake proactive quality assurance visits that benchmark services against quality standards informed by legislation and recognised best practice. In addition to this they also perform reactive visits to services where concerns are expressed by a third party. These reactive visits are often in response to intelligence from health and social care professionals, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), service users, their relatives, a member of the public and staff who may seek to whistle blow.
We may also be asked to look into concerns about standards of care that arise from safeguarding investigations.
Who is quality assured?
We quality assure all services in receipt of public money.
Our processes help us keep track of the standards of care and support provided by services. This includes care homes, homecare agencies, tenancy based support - such as supported living and day care opportunities, amongst others. We can influence change through challenging poor practice and promoting best practice, facilitating a continuous programme of improvement.
Who tells us about quality?
Quality is everyone’s business and for our quality assurance processes to be effective we welcome intelligence from any and all sources, this includes, but is not exclusive to, health and social care professionals, staff team members working within services, people in receipt of care and support and their family and friends.
If you are concerned about standards of care, please let us know.
Telling us about your concerns regarding the quality of care is not the same as making a complaint. However, if you wish you can make a complaint.
Sharing information
We will share information about standards achieved by care and support providers and care homes so that people wanting care can make informed choices.
We also regularly share information about quality of care with key partners such as the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the CQC and providers of services.