1.1 DHHS Services Quality and Safety Framework

Every day, community sector organisations provide valuable services to Tasmanians.  Funded service providers embrace a wide range of community, voluntary and not for profit activities aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians through direct support such as disability, family and mental health services, and strategies for preventing or reducing the effects of chronic conditions.

The Department's is the largest Tasmanian State Government agency.  DHHS is responsible for delivering integrated services that maintain and improve the health and wellbeing of individual Tasmanians, and the Tasmanian community as a whole.

About the Framework

The aim of the Quality and Safety Framework for Tasmania’s DHHS Funded Community Sector (the Framework) is to support DHHS funded service providers to have systems and processes in place to deliver safe, high quality services to Tasmanian consumers.

The aims of the Framework

The Framework aims to support the following outcomes for consumers, funded service providers and DHHS:

• high quality and safe services for Tasmanians through continual improvement of service delivery
• service systems and processes are enhanced  using recognised evidence bases (such as standards)
• a culture of continuous improvement within the sector that is supported by, and inclusive of, all stakeholders
• minimising regulatory and administrative burden
• consumers, service providers and DHHS work in partnership to enhance service delivery
• consumers, the community and Government have confidence that DHHS funded service providers are delivering safe and high quality services
• learnings, both at the service provider and sector level, are used in planning and development activities.

The requirements of the Framework

Broadly, the Framework requires funded service providers to:

• continue to undertake quality and safety activities against recognised Standards relevant to the services DHHS is funding;
• have systems and processes in place which record and monitor continuous improvement activities;
• have systems and processes to ensure that feedback and learnings from incident outcomes contribute towards enhancing service delivery;
• report serious consumer related incidents within 24 hours or the next working day;
• expect an annual visit from their DHHS Funding Agreement Manager to discuss/ monitor performance; and
• expect a quality and safety review of the services that DHHS is funding via a Funding Agreement, at least once every three years.

More information on the Framework is available on the Departments' Quality and Safety Framework website

Thought

In addressing these areas it is important that your organisation records what you are learning in terms of both what is working and what is not working, from the perspective of the person with disability.