What is AIMS for inpatient wards for older
people?
AIMS-OP works with wards providing services to
older people to assure and improve the quality of inpatient mental
health services. It engages staff and service users in a
comprehensive process of review, through which good practice and
high quality care are recognised and services are supported to
identify and address areas for improvement.
Accreditation assures staff, service users and
carers, commissioners and regulators of the quality of the service
being provided.
AIMS is an initiative of the College Centre
for Quality Improvement.
Why focus on inpatient wards for older
people?
The rapid ageing of the population means that demand for
services is increasing.
In 2006, a
report by the Healthcare Commission, Audit Commission and the
Commission for Social Care Inspection found evidence of
inadequacies in health and social care services for older
people with mental health problems. The Department
of Health highlighted that more still needed to be done to provide
specialist mental health services for older people in its 2006
report,
A new ambition for old age.
There is an increasing focus on older people’s mental health
services, with additional guidance and requirements placed
on provider organisations.
The standards we use
Our standards are developed to support
services to improve the quality of care for people using services
and demonstrate that they meet national requirements.
The standards cover five domains:
- General Standards, including policies, protocols and staffing
related issues;
- Timely and Purposeful Admission;
- Safety;
- Environment and Facilities;
- Therapies and Activities.
The standards are aligned with:
- Department of Health Policy Implementation Guides;
- the findings of the Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and
Homicide;
- NICE guidance;
- recommendations by NHS Estates and the Royal College of
Psychiatrists about ward design;
- the National Patient Safety Agency’s Safer Wards for Acute
Psychiatry Initiative;
- recommendations arising from the National Audit of
Violence.
The complete set of standards is aspirational;
we do not expect services to meet every standard, and services can
still be accredited as excellent without meeting all the
standards.
How we measure performance against the
standards
We recognise that wards are diverse and that,
for example, high quality care does not necessarily require a new
purpose-built ward. Therefore, services are categorized
against each standard at one of three levels:
Level 1: failure to meet
these standards could result in a significant threat to the safety,
rights or dignity of service users and/or would breach the
law. These standards must be met for a ward to be
accredited;
Level 2: standards that an
accredited ward would be expected to meet;
Level 3: standards that an
excellent ward should meet or standards that are not the direct
responsibility of the ward.
Resources
Discussion Group
It is free to join our discussion group. Send
"JOIN" to AIMS-OP-CHAT@cru.rcpsych.ac.uk
AIMS-OP publications
First National
Report (AIMS-OP)
For resources relating to AIMS in general,
click here
Signing up: what it costs
The accreditation programme is funded on a
subscription basis. The cost of participating in the
programme is £1,800 plus VAT per ward, per annum. This includes
access to all our materials and events. There is a 10%
discount for services committing to four years'
membership.
Complete a joining form here.
Terms and
Conditions
Contact us
If you would like to find out more about
AIMS-OP, and how your service can get involved, please contact
Aneika Cummings:
Tel: 020 7977 6695
Email: acummings@cru.rcpsych.ac.uk
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