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Name of Reviewer
Suzanne Cunningham
Organisation
Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority
Contact Details
suzanne.cunningham@rqia.org.uk
Conclusions
The review found that the success of standards in promoting quality
outcomes, quality improvement or identifying poor practice was not clear in
the research due to the number of variables that influence outcomes. The
review did find regulators should identify their practices that may not
promote improvement as well as develop practices that do promote
improvement. To move this forward, regulators who are using a deterrence
approach and rely on assurance may improve outcomes by using an
improvement focus. When standards are used they should measure
outcomes that connect to the lived experience of the service users.
Regulation approaches should be evidence based and inspectors' use of
standards should be consistent. Methods or tools to enable providers to
self-regulate, and regulators to analyse risk, compliance or factors that can
influence improvement could be mapped.
There is potential for the data and intelligence to identify the potential for
unintended outcomes of standards. Finally some consideration could be
given to developing communication streams that are representative of the
population of providers, users of services and stakeholders. These can
assist in developing regulatory change and confidence in the same.