Organisational Quality System Maturity Scale (Balding, 2013)
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Maturity Level
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Characteristics
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1. Informal
Improvement
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- Driven by lone ‘champions’ with an interest in improvement.
- Lack of systematic approach: random improvement activities based on minimal and poor data.
- Managerial response to quality problems largely dependent on staff ‘trying harder’.
- Limited staff input into identifying problems and improvements.
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2. Compliance
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- Focus on compliance with external/funding requirements.
- Problem based and reactive approach with minimal systematic collection or analysis of data on key issues.
- ‘Doing quality’ is staff code for auditing and other data collection with little impact on consumer care.
- ‘Quality’ seen as the responsibility of the quality manager.
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3. Reactive
Risk
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- Focus on risk management and compliance with accreditation and other external requirements.
- Systematic tracking of key indicators, consumer feedback and incident reporting.
- Evidence of some system improvement and follow up.
- No agreed change and improvement model in use.
- Reliance on policy change and education as key change tools.
- Leaders are developed to improve safety.
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4. Proactive
Improvement
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- Quality system is a key component of clinical/quality governance system, with plans for improvement at organisation-wide and local levels.
- Lack of common and uniting goals with the improvement program comprising a series of (possibly unrelated) monitoring, improvement and redesign projects.
- Minimum dataset reported across all quality dimensions.
- Data analysed and reported through organisational levels to the governing body, with evidence of effective systems improvement as a result.
- Strategies in place for developing leaders to engage staff in improvement across the dimensions of quality, with some consumer input.
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5. Strategic
Creation
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- The desired quality of the consumer experience at point of care is defined with staff and consumers, and achieving it is a strategic priority.
- The organisational quality plan is designed and systematically implemented to create the defined quality consumer experience, through developing people and improving systems.
- Roles and responsibilities at all levels of the organisation for creating the quality consumer experience are described and supported.
- Governance systems are owned by the governing body and executive team and designed to support staff to create the quality consumer experience.
- An agreed and consistent model for change and improvement is in use.
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