Walsall patients managing their long term conditions can feel reassured about the quality of self care services they are accessing – thanks to a recent accreditation.

The Self Care Management Team at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust has received the QISMET (Quality Institute for Self Management Education & Training) Accreditation of Self Management Education Interventions for its four programmes:

• Chronic Disease Self Management Programme;
• Workplace Chronic Disease Self Management Programme;
• Diabetes Self Management Programme
• Caring for Me and You Programme.

Louise Mabley, Lead for Self Care Management Programmes, said: “I’m thrilled to announce that we have been recognised and accredited for achieving the QISMET standard.

“It is a rigorous process which demonstrates that we have all the necessary systems, processes and procedures in place to deliver a high quality service.  I’m incredibly proud of the team for gaining the accreditation and would also like to express my thanks and appreciation to all our dedicated volunteers who played a key role in achieving this award. The investment in time to complete the process was definitely worth it and allows the team to stand out from other providers.”

This was awarded against two best Practice Quality Standards: QIS 2020 (Universal Quality Standard) and SS2Q (Stepping Stones to Quality Standard).  The accreditation is a process of checking all elements of the programme provision with regard to what is required by the relevant Standard and involved:

• The team carrying out a self-assessment against the relevant Standard’s requirements
• Formally submitting an application to QISMET
• A desktop review by QISMET of relevant documentation
• A virtual site visit where implementation was checked and staff and volunteers were interviewed
• Gaining accreditation for three years.

Joanne Hannigan, Business Support Manager said: “This is a great achievement for the team as the certificate is the equivalent of a kitemark and will put us on the map as a recognised quality service.”

Colette Mumford, Volunteer Tutor, added: “Gaining accreditation for QISMET is important to the team as it is testament to the hard work and commitment that the whole team put into self care management programmes and to deliver a service that is of high quality for the people of Walsall borough. It pushes us to keep working to our best standard by reviewing our performance and continuing to learn and develop personally and as a team. Furthermore it helps us to have pride in the work that we do and the service we deliver.”

QISMET is an independent not-for-profit body that supports self-management education providers and commissioners to achieve the highest possible quality service for people living with long-term health conditions.