Does quality matter to you? Ward accreditation and improving patient care

Quality, its definition and how we in healthcare measure it compared to patients' perception of their care could be addressed by using the ‘What matters to you?’ principle (What Matters to You?, 2020). Could this be the key to combining both objective and subjective metrics in ward accreditation programmes, which are designed to drive quality improvement? As more NHS trusts devise their ward accreditation programmes the impact on Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings will be of interest to determine whether there is a correlation between having an accreditation programme and the quality of care delivered to patients.

The CQC (2021) has launched a new strategy, promising to move away from the traditional burdensome inspection model to a continuous cycle of monitoring using tools such as accreditation to inform their measurements. The strategy makes a commitment to publish new information about quality, use a clear definition of quality and define safety.