Standards and accreditation programme development

At DNV we believe that independent assessment and accreditation is the most practical and effective way to address questions about the quality of healthcare services and inspire patient confidence.

The best assessment and accreditation programs for healthcare services help promote excellence and patient safety, whilst incorporating specific requirements and best practices.
Healthcare organisations earning an accreditation mark can clearly communicate to patients and other key stakeholders that their personnel, care practices and facilities are compliant with clear, consistent performance standards. With all the other concerns patients and their families may have about their health, the basic confidence in the quality and safety of the services provided should not be in doubt.
We have over 140 years of experience in developing safety standards and building safety cultures in safety critical industries. Within the UK and Ireland healthcare unit, we have a team of experienced healthcare professionals who are adept at delivering accreditation schemes in different healthcare organisations. We understand the challenges of the UK and Ireland’s complex healthcare arrangements; the impact of these arrangements on access to information for patients and carers; and the importance of supporting effective and efficient service delivery.
We develop accreditation programmes that can meet the very different needs of these individual organisations. Our staff are trained to recognise the needs of each organisation and to adjust processes accordingly, whilst at all times maintaining consistency.
Assessment of an organisation’s compliance against a set of standards is our area of expertise. Through accreditation, we ensure objective third party validation and benchmarking of processes and systems, while also identifying areas to be targeted for improvement and opportunities for greater efficiency and ongoing sustainability. The benefits of working with DNV   As members of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), we follow the standards and supporting criteria developed by them for organisations that accredit healthcare. These cover the functions of leadership, support services and service delivery. In following these principles we pay particular attention to ensuring that:
  • All our decision making and behaviour is guided by a code of conduct that avoids conflicts of interest
  • Our assessment processes are transparent and independent
  • The determination of the outcome of the assessment is transparent, consistent, relevant to the scope of the accreditation, made purely on the basis of the assessment findings and independent of the assessment process
  • Assessors are selected carefully, trained and have their performance evaluated
  • Assessment teams provide a balance of skills and experience to match the needs and characteristics of the service being accredited
  • There is an appeals process that is transparent and clearly described
Underpinning our approach to accreditation is an in-depth knowledge gained from researching accreditation programmes used throughout the world, in both healthcare and other industries. This has helped us to identify what a good accreditation programme should both employ and avoid and this helps inform our daily work with our customers. To be successful we believe that an accreditation programme should:
  • Be open and transparent
  • Have a clear remit, aims, objectives and outcomes
  • Be appropriate to the organisation and services provided
  • Be capable of driving continuous improvement
  • Be flexible
  • Be cyclical
  • Be supportive
Our breadth of assessment experience means that we have a robust process that has proved successful in terms of engaging organisations and individuals, and adapting what has worked well to new schemes and standards.