Patient Representative or Carer Representative x1 – Quality Network for Inpatient Working Age Mental Health Services (QNWA)

The Patient Representatives & Carer Representatives will be an integral member of the network working with the project team, to support the various activities of the project and advocating for the patient group.

QNWA is a quality improvement and accreditation project that works with inpatient working age mental health services around the UK and Ireland. 

The main aim of the project is to drive up the quality of care in inpatient working age mental health services and to provide a platform to connect services throughout the UK and Ireland, to share good practice and enable teams to learn from each other. Inpatient mental health services engage in a supportive process of self- and peer-review to assess how the service is performing against an agreed set of quality standards.

Setting standards for specific mental health services: The standards provide a framework on what a good service looks like and are used to measure quality. For example, a standard on patient information might state ‘patients are offered a copy of their care plan’, this standard would then be measured and if the team is not meeting the standard, the network will support them to put changes in place to meet it in the future. 

Who decides what goes into the standards? The standards are developed by looking at existing guidance and by consulting with experts in the field, including staff, patients and carers. This will sometimes involve a large meeting where people discuss what should and should not be included.

Teams then go through a self review period: At this point teams mark themselves against each standard and the project obtains feedback from staff, patients and carers from questionnaires based on the standards. The team has 3 months to complete this. 

Teams then receive a peer review: This involves mental health staff, patient and/or carer representatives visiting another inpatient mental health service for a day to look around, interview people and take part in group discussions. People going on peer reviews, whether staff, patient or carer representatives, all receive full training and support from the QNWA project team. These are day long visits which follow a clear structure and are facilitated by an experienced lead.

Teams will then receive a written report - The QNWA project team write reports which summarise the achievements of the service as well as areas they need to improve upon. The reports are sent back to the service so that they can learn from the findings.

Accreditation Committee - The network has its own Accreditation Committee comprising of professionals who represent key interests and areas of expertise relevant to the network, and patient and carer representatives. This committee makes a decision about a service’s accreditation status based on the evidence gathered during the self- and peer review. The committee may request further information or a re-visit to the service if there are concerns about quality. 

Advisory Group - The network has its own Advisory Group comprising of professionals who represent key interests and areas of expertise relevant to the network, and patient and carer representatives. The purpose of the group is to advise and further the work of the network.

Learning events – The network holds events throughout the year so that services can share ideas and help each other improve ways of working. Patients representatives are often involved in these events, with the potential for dedicated workshops being run by patient representatives about their experiences and how this can support service improvement.

You can view our standards and read more about the Network on our webpage.

The views, ideas, skills and experience of people who have used these services and people who have experience caring for people who have used these services are vital in every part of our work.  As part of this role, you will be closely involved with the network and particularly with the project team, to engage the wider membership and partner organisations in advocating for the QNWA patient group.