Quality Assurance
Our mission is to provide a service of excellence. At all times we ensure the quality of our work which is achieved through:
- Consultant Selection
- Case Allocation
- Monitoring and Supervision
- Red Flag Procedure
- Education and Training
- Treatment Guidelines
- Client Confidential Satisfaction Questionnaire
- Complaints Management
Consultant Selection
We recruit only well qualified mental health professionals and physiotherapists who have extensive experience and specialist training in their profession along with up to date treatment approaches within pain management.
Our selection process includes: reviewing CV’s; obtaining references; and verification of qualifications, professional accreditation and professional indemnity insurance; and, where appropriate, clinical interview by one of the Directors.
Case Allocation
All referrals for pain management are reviewed by one of the Directors prior to allocation in order to ensure the most appropriate therapists are instructed, in terms of relevant skills, experience and location of the therapists.
Monitoring and supervision
All our Consultants are supervised throughout the course of treatment for each referral they undertake from The Pain Service. Supervision ensures that cases are appropriately clinically managed. The frequency of supervision is dictated by the complexity of the case. However, consultants can contact their Case Supervisor at any time should the need arise for example if the client is experiencing crisis or appears at risk (see Red Flag procedure below).
Red Flag Procedure
If a Consultant is concerned about a particular client, and feels that they may be at risk then we activate a “Red Flag” procedure, which includes the Consultant talking to their Supervisor after each session and/or referring on for further investigations or appropriate treatments. The Red Flag procedure also includes an explicit agreement between the Consultant and Supervisor as to any communications/liaison that may be required (e.g. with the client’s own GP or with other services). All decisions are specifically recorded for risk management purposes.
Education and training
While all our Consultants are already well trained and qualified, we also emphasise continuing professional development (CPD). We expect them to keep up to date with therapeutic developments. As a service, we also arrange special training for our Consultants in particular areas, such as EMDR, ACT or in other areas of pain management.
Therapy Guidelines
We provide for our Consultants a range of guidelines for therapy. Whilst as independent and experienced professionals, they are clinically responsible for their work, these guidelines are intended to be supplementary and to provide assistance and support.
Confidential Client Satisfaction Questionnaire
After discharge, all our clients are asked to complete a confidential client satisfaction questionnaire, which addresses the clients’ experience of the consultant involved in their treatment, the intervention undertaken and outcome. Questionnaires are monitored as part of the service’s commitment to quality assurance.
Complaints
Fortunately we have very few complaints. However, we take such matters very seriously and have a robust complaints management process, where all allegations are carefully investigated through consultation with the complainant, the consultant in question, the case supervisor, and other documented evidence. In serious cases of complaint then we employ the services of an external Complaints Manager who has extensive experience in investigating and dealing with complaints at a senior level within the NHS.