About the QNOAMHS network

The Quality Network for Older Adult Mental Health Services (QNOAMHS) works with wards and units providing services to older people to assess and improve the quality of care they provide.

QNOAMHS engages staff, patients and their carers in a comprehensive process of self and peer review to enable services to identify areas of good practice and areas for development.

Member services are encouraged to use peer review and accreditation visits, and other member events, to share knowledge and ideas with others, thereby creating a mutually supportive environment which encourages learning, and leads to positive change.

We use a process of peer and self-review to support our members in improving the quality of their services.

We review against standards for functional and organic older adult wards (5th edition) which are a framework to assess the quality of services.

We offer a variety of memberships including associate, developmental and accreditation.

All membership options include:

  • A report specific to your ward
  • To become a peer and/or lead reviewer on developmental and accreditation reviews
  • Reduced rates to attend our Annual Forum and Special Interest Days
  • Annual Report from the QNOAMHS network
  • Newsletters of innovative practice happening in other member services
  • Build relationships with QNOAMHS member colleagues and experts, share knowledge, insight and best practice
  • Learn from experiences and inspire innovation and new ways of working via Knowledge Hub
  • Get involved with our email discussion group

Accreditation

This membership’s best for services that meet a set standard to achieve accreditation.

What’s involved?

  • You’ll self-review your service against the standards over a three-month period. This will include the completion of patient, carer, staff and referred questionnaires and a health record audit.
  • A peer review team will visit your service for one day and praise your good practices as well as help you identify areas of recommendation prior to being seen at the Accreditation Committee.
  • Your draft report will be discussed by the Accreditation Committee which will decide if your service can be accredited.
  • Once awarded, accreditation lasts up to three years subject to terms and conditions.

How much is it?

£2,710 + VAT per year / £7,720 + VAT per three year membership.

Developmental

This membership’s best for:

  • Services that want to focus on the specific areas of the standards that are most useful to them
  • New members of the network who’ve not had experience with the standards before
  • Services who feel unable to go through the accreditation process
  • Services who want to prepare for accreditation in the future

What’s involved?

  • You’ll self-review your service against the standards over a three-month period.
  • A peer review team will visit your service for one day and help you identify your areas of achievement and suggest recommendations to improve your service.
  • You’ll receive a report of finds from the review day.

How much is it?

£2,710 + VAT per year

Associate

This membership’s best for:

  • Services who want to take advantage of the benefits of membership but may have financial constraints
  • Services undergoing reconfiguration or have a mixed function
  • Services outside of the UK

What’s involved?

You’ll complete a self-review against the standards. You’ll then receive an individualised report based on your reported performance against standards, benchmarking data and action planning templates.

How much is it?

£610 + VAT per year (membership option is available for one year only as preparation for developmental membership).

We are recruiting to the QNOAMHS Accreditation Committee.

This is a great opportunity to be involved in the promotion of quality improvement and change within older adult inpatient mental health services.

Why should you join?

  • Work collaboratively and holistically with professionals from various disciplines, including psychiatry, nursing, psychology, and allied health professionals .
  • Involvement demonstrates a commitment to excellence and leadership in the profession, contributing to personal and professional growth opportunities.
  • Promote high quality care.
  • Review the work of older adult mental health services across the UK to assess and improve the quality of care they provide.
  • Add to your CPD portfolio through network activities.
  • Contribute to our annual programme of learning events.
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the field and implement ideas for good practice within your own service.

We are looking for:

  • Consultant Psychiatrists
  • Clinical Psychologists
  • Allied Health Professionals
  • Medical Staff
  • Nurses

Please see our terms of reference for more information.

To apply, please contact op@rcpsych.ac.uk by Monday 30th September 2024

We are recruiting to the QNOAMHS Advisory Group.

This is a great opportunity to be involved in the promotion of quality improvement and change within inpatient mental health services.

Why should you join?

  • An opportunity to champion your profession and shape the strategic direction of the network, ensuring best practice is recognised and integrated in practice.
  • Work collaboratively and holistically with professionals from various disciplines, including psychiatry, nursing, psychology and allied health professionals.
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the field and implement ideas for good practice within your own service.
  • Present your own research, chair discussions or put forward ideas for themes.
  • Contribute to our quality network standards revision.
  • Contribute to our annual programme of learning events.
  • Involvement demonstrates a commitment to excellence and leadership in the profession, contributing to personal and professional growth opportunities.
  • Add to your CPD portfolio through network activities.

We are looking for:

  • Consultant Psychiatrists
  • Clinical Psychologists
  • Nurses
  • Allied Health Professionals

Please see our terms of reference for more information.

If you would like to apply, please contact OP@rcpsych.ac.uk by Monday 30 September 2024.

If you have any questions about the Quality Network for Older Adults Mental Health Services please contact the Project Team: op@rcpsych.ac.uk

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