wimmeraunitingcare

In the past few years various funding bodies and government departments have issued accreditation 'standards' and/or self assessment procedures as a requirement of ongoing funding and service agreements. The process has meant that the agencies have had to undergo a self assessment of their service delivery practices and/or undergo a mandatory external examination of how those services are delivered.

It has not been an easy process.  Agencies and staff struggle to meet the ongoing demands for service delivery and at the same time have staff focus on preparing for accreditation and undergo an external review process essential for accreditation. An extra burden, in many cases, has been that agencies have had to self fund the resources to deal with both meeting demand and accreditation requirements.

In response to this Wimmera UnitingCare has developed two ‘quality' personnel positions. The positions will oversee and facilitate accreditation with the objective to combine and/or streamline quality and accreditation initiatives across the agency's many diverse programs. It is a process that will improve overall service delivery. This will be achieved through regular incorporation of service user feedback and self examination of service improvement in preparation for further accreditation requirements.

We must also provide our people with excellent support, whether that be better communication and office accommodation, cultural awareness training, improved financial independence or by promoting an organisation that values learning and recognises contribution and achievement.

Initiatives in hand include having all programs accredited by the appropriate authorities by 2010 and implementing both a quality framework for the delivery of services to clients and a performance appraisal system.

delivering quality services with passion and dedication