The team has been endorsed by the national Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services Accreditation Scheme (PRSAS) which is run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) following a rigorous assessment of their rehabilitation programme for patients with lung disease.
The Royal College of Physicians is a national professional body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination.
PRSAS Accreditation provides independent and impartial recognition that a service demonstrates high levels of quality and is an important acknowledgement for the team.
Multiple benefits
There are many benefits of accreditation for services, commissioners, and patients, including:
- independently measuring services against national standards and reducing variation;
- demonstrating a service’s dedication to improvement, patient safety and reducing risk;
- improving value for money by increasing efficiency and improving patient experience;
- raising the profile of a service across the organisation and leveraging support for investment;
- helping teams highlight and share good practice as well as expert, targeted advice on where to focus your improvement efforts.
Gaining the PRSAS accredited status means that the team at Newcastle Hospitals have achieved all the quality standards set out by the scheme.
It helps indicate to patients who attend, the commissioners and the wider community that the service on offer at Newcastle Hospitals is of a high quality.
Laura McNeillie, Physiotherapy Operational Lead explains “We’re delighted to have received such highly commended validation from the Royal College of Physicians.
“It means a great deal to us as a team – we’re proud our patients can feel confident in their pulmonary rehabilitation service, assured that they are receiving high quality, consistent care.”
Rigorous review
The assessment team was made up of two external clinicians and one lay assessor, representing the patient voice. The preparation for the visit included submitting hundreds of pieces of evidence.
The site visit involved assessors interviewing patients and staff, rigorous review of all documentation including risk registers, dignity and respect and quality improvement work.
Dr Ian Forrest, a consultant physician in respiratory medicine specialising in interstitial lung disease (ILD), pleural disease and lung cancer says “The team have been able to provide a unique service in Newcastle. The team not only provide a programme of pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with long term lung conditions like COPD and asthma. They also provide a bespoke programme for patients with interstitial lung disease.
“The learning from developing a high quality ILD pulmonary rehabilitation service has been shared regionally and nationally. I am proud to work with the pulmonary rehabilitation team who are core to the regional ILD service and are an inspirational group of colleagues.”
“This is a fantastic achievement from the whole team after an incredibly rigorous accreditation process,” adds Ewan Dick, Associate Director of Allied Health Professionals and Therapy Services.
The Pulmonary Rehab Service are at the forefront of rehab practice and despite the challenges that Covid and the growing complexity of their caseload has had, they have listened to their patients and tirelessly sought to innovate and improve their service.
Associate Director of AHPs and Therapy Services, Ewan Dick
Now the service has been accredited, the team will upload annual evidence to ensure the service continues to review and strive for excellence.
Accreditation is also supported by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and some RCP accreditation schemes have already been recognised by CQC as an information source.
