Getting Ready for HIQA

The College took responsibility for developing and delivering training to people right across the organisation. In total, 633 were trained between April 2012 and November 2013. In parallel, the frontline managers of all residential and respite house were asked to complete a questionnaire (essentially a customised audit tool) to assess current preparedness/compliance with the Standards. As part of this they were required to provide evidence to support their analysis.  Following on from this a report was published, summarising the findings of the self-audit process.

The report was used to further refine the agency’s HIQA strategy and led to the development of a Simulated Inspections project. This aimed at replicating the HIQA inspection process and was conducted by the Open Training College in 19 houses within the agency in 2013. College personnel, acting as team leaders, conducted simulated inspections while the agency’s staff performed as support personnel.

During 2013, the Open Training College also developed and implemented a Statement of Purpose training programme as HIQA had identified it as a critical document required in the registration and inspection process. The training involved a hands-on approach where the frontline managers were asked to complete the Statement of Purpose online. 106 staff took part in the training which introduced them to the requirements of the Statement of Purpose. This was also used to begin the preparatory work on the statement, thereby linking training to work and transforming the training programme into a formed of performance support.

Overall, 769 staff within the agency took part in the different HIQA projects delivered by the Open Training College in 2012 and 2013.