As the IQILS programme is celebrating its five-year anniversary this year – we spoke to consultant hepatologist, Dr Janisha Patel from University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, to hear about her service’s accreditation journey. 

KT: How has accreditation benefitted your service?
JP: The programme was a great way to for us to focus on areas within our service which we hadn’t yet fully developed. For example, we used the standards to help us to improve our patient communication, as we started to engage with our patients using different methods apart from just formally writing to them which sped up the process in actioning any feedback.

We also identified that our IT systems weren’t as efficient as they could’ve been, and therefore we sought to improve these using the standards as a framework – solving this made everyone’s lives easier in the service. I would say our accreditation journey has been a hugely positive experience.

 KT: How did your team feel after you'd been accredited?
JP: Everyone in the team was very pleased, and our achievement was recognised throughout the Trust, including our board of directors. We saw the process as a great team bonding experience, and we had a party to celebrate our achievement. So, it’s safe to say that we were all happy to have gain accreditation!

KT: What challenges did your team face throughout your accreditation journey?
At times we felt that we may not meet the standards in some areas, so we procrastinated when submitted evidence, however when speaking with the IQILS team and clinical lead it was explained what the assessors were looking to see in our submission and after we reviewed our evidence, in some areas we had exceeded what we needed to demonstrate.

KT: What advice would you give to services who're currently going through the accreditation process? JP: Always refer to the resource library on the website as there are documents, guidance, and examples that you can use. And of course, don’t overthink it. Use the level 1 sign-off feedback to understand what the assessors are looking for you to demonstrate and speak to the IQILS team if you do need any support.

We want to thank Dr Janisha Patel who took the time to speak to Katy Thistlethwaite, our IQILS programme coordinator. We'll be creating more of these blogs in the future, so look out for them!