About the MSNAP network

New teams can join and start the peer-review process at any time.

If you’d like to join the network, please email MSNAP@rcpsych.ac.uk with details of the team(s) you’d like to sign up, including the name of the team and what Trust you fall under. We’ll then arrange together a convenient time for the team to start the review process.

How much does it cost?

The accreditation programme is funded on a subscription basis. The annual fee is £2,600 + VAT per team which includes access to all our materials and events. 

A 5% discount is available for services that purchase a three-year membership, total cost £7,410 + VAT.

If you’d like further information about joining MSNAP, please contact us.

Your MSNAP membership benefits

Included in your membership is:

• A comprehensive peer review visit of your service attended by a team of professionals from similar services as well as lived experience perspectives
• A report containing bespoke recommendations for your service based on the findings from your peer review assessment
• The potential to be awarded with MSNAP accreditation
• The ability to share good practice and learn from other memory services
• Free online peer reviewer training for memory service staff
• Opportunities for staff to visit other memory clinics as peer reviewers
• Learning events including online webinars, online events and face-to-face conferences
• Year round support from the MSNAP Team and Accreditation Committee to support you to meet the standards
• Access to Knowledge Hub, the MSNAP online discussion forum
• Newsletters providing updates and sharing good practice
• Certificate of MSNAP Accreditation
• Listing on the MSNAP website as a member service, or an accredited service if applicable

Accreditation assures patients, carers, frontline staff, commissioners, managers, and regulators that your memory service is of a good quality and that staff are committed to improving care. This formal recognition is fantastic, but MSNAP membership also brings a range of other benefits:

• The Care Quality Commission (CQC) views membership of MSNAP favorably when inspecting a Trust.
• Information from the accreditation process can be used in Trust quality accounts, as recommended by the National Quality Board.
• Accreditation rewards hardworking memory service staff for their efforts, raises morale and the profile of the team within its wider organisation.
• The MSNAP process helps build dialogue with referrers, partner agencies, and commissioners. 
• The central team has considerable knowledge of the strengths of different MSNAP members and will put people in touch with each other accordingly.

There are three stages to the peer-review process:

1. Self-review

The self-review stage is a period of data collection where your team will:

• rate yourselves against each standard, stating whether you think you meet it or not
• complete a brief audit of case notes
• each complete a staff questionnaire
• ask your referrers to complete a questionnaire
• ask patients and their carers to complete a questionnaire.

For Accreditation peer-reviews, the self-review period lasts 12 weeks; for Developmental reviews, services will go through an 8-week self-review period.

2. Peer-review

You’ll be given 6-8 weeks between the self- and peer-review stages so that you can look through your data and begin to implement any changes.

A review team made up of at least 2 memory service professionals from other MSNAP member services, a service user or carer representative and a member of the central MSNAP team, will then visit your service to discuss the self-review data.

The data collected from both the self- and peer-review will then be used to write a report. The report will highlight your achievements, and outline any changes you’ll need to make to meet the standards.

Developmental members will be sent their report to use as part of their internal quality improvement processes, as they move towards Accreditation membership.

Services on the Accreditation pathway will then be given one month to make any changes before being presented to the MSNAP Accreditation Committee (AC).

3. Accreditation

The AC is made up of professionals representing:

• Staff working in MSNAP member services
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Royal College of GPs
• British Psychological Society
• Alzheimer’s Society
• Patient and Carer Representatives

Using your report and any further evidence you might have sent to show you’re meeting the standards, the AC will recommend an accreditation status for you. There are three categories of accreditation status:

• ‘Accredited’ – for teams that meet:
  • 100% of Type 1 standards
  • 80% of Type 2 standards
  • 60% of Type 3 standards
• 'Accreditation Deferred' - for teams that:
  • Do not meet all Type 1 standards but show they will be able to
  • Do not meet enough Type 2 or 3 standards but show they will be able to
  • Do not meet a significant number of standards in one particular area.

• ‘Not Accredited’ – for teams that:
  • Do not meet the number of standards needed, and do not show they will be able to within a reasonable time
  • Do not submit sufficient self-review data

Your team will be given time, guidance and support to reach Accreditation.

We write standards for memory services and review them regularly to keep them up-to-date. Our standards are based on the available literature and discussion with professionals and service users.

Find out more about the standards and download a copy (PDF)

The different options for MSNAP membership are listed below. To join the network, please email the MSNAP project team with:

• your service name and your trust
• which membership option you would like.

The MSNAP project team will then work with you to find a suitable time to begin your peer-review process.

Developmental membership

Developmental membership includes receiving a peer review visit and targeted support from MSNAP. It is considered a stepping stone to moving onto accreditation membership eventually.

All other membership benefits apply. 

Developmental membership costs £2,600 + VAT per year. Services can also access a 5% discount by buying a three-year membership for £7,410 + VAT.

Accreditation membership

Accreditation membership includes receiving a peer review visit and targeted support from MSNAP to become an accredited service. The service will be subject to presentations to an Accreditation Committee to demonstrate compliance against a required threshold of MSNAP standards.

All other membership benefits apply.

Accreditation membership costs £2,600 + VAT per year. Services can also access a 5% discount by buying a three-year membership for £7,410 + VAT.

Affiliate membership

Affiliate membership of MSNAP is for memory services who are not ready to undergo the MSNAP self-review process at this point, but who have plans to in the near future. Affiliate members will be able to benefit from access to the network and the support of peers, with the eventual aim of achieving accreditation.

Affiliate membership costs £795 + VAT per service for a one-year period. If affiliate members register for either developmental or accreditation membership within this one-year period, the £795 will be deducted from the first year's subscription fee!

Affiliate membership includes:

• Free peer reviewer training and the opportunity to visit other memory services as peer reviewers
• Member rates at MSNAP events
• Access to Knowledge Hub, the MSNAP online discussion forum.
• Newsletters providing updates and sharing good practice.
• Certificate of MSNAP affiliate membership.
• Listing on the MSNAP website as an affiliated member.
  

Affiliate membership does not include:

• a peer review visit from a multidisciplinary team of reviewers
• a detailed report of the self-review and peer-review findings
• MSNAP accreditation.