Investigation Outcome Assurance

Investigation Outcome Assurance

When an incident investigation results in recommendations, not only does an organisation need to take action to implement any changes; it also needs to ensure that it continues to comply with them. Sancus Investigation Outcome Assurance is a service that rigorously assesses that those changes are sustainable.

Independent and objective, our compliance and sustainability assessments bring confidence to the organisation, its staff, service users and other stakeholders by ensuring that ratings have improved, and that sustainability is assured. This ‘fresh eyes’ approach enables the assessment to be completely impartial and unbiased, increasing both internal and third-party trust in the review and its outcomes. What’s more, by working across organisational boundaries, we are able to support the sharing of information for the benefit of service users.

How Sancus Can Help

While it is the organisation’s responsibility to comply with an investigation’s recommendations, Sancus can provide the assurance you need to independently verify that compliance and sustainability are robust and in the best interests of stakeholders.

Our assurance arm will revisit and assess the outcomes approximately six months after the completion of an investigation. This will be a supportive process that, aside from ensuring you are not marking your own homework, provides, via an assessment of staff, an understanding of what the ‘so what?’ looks like, for example, ‘So what does the new policy mean for my day-to-day job?’

How Investigation Outcome Assurance Works

The key steps we take to assess whether assurance has been achieved include:

1. A review of the actions the organisation has completed

  • Assessing whether the actions have delivered their expected outcome
  • Evaluating the evidence, e.g., audits, revised documentation, new policies
  • Checking whether revised documentation has been approved through the organisation’s governance structures
  • Looking to see if there is an improvement plan following the audit, or, if not required, a plan to reaudit to ensure continued compliance

2. Discussion with stakeholders

  • Discussion with the organisation’s leaders
  • Interviewing staff about their input into the changes, how they happen in practice and their potential for success
  • Assessing what people at different levels across the organisation know of any improvements, e.g., training, communication or signage

3. Test with current service users if any changes have been implemented

4. Review whether incidents have reduced or if there is a reduction in complaints

5. For incidents involving the NHS, we will also look at what the Family and Friends Test (FFT) feedback tells us. With this providing feedback in real-time, information can be accessed more quickly than by waiting for annual surveys

Quality Assurance

Sancus is committed to ensuring that all aspects of our work are completed to the highest quality standard and in strict compliance with legislation and regulations.

All associates engaged by Sancus are professionally aware of and fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation and Caldicott Principles; it is a condition of engagement that all personally identifiable information is processed in a safe and secure manner with access strictly restricted to colleagues who have a need to know.

Accreditation

Professional Award in Complaints Handling & Investigations (Level 5) – Sancus holds a professional award in Complaints Handling & Investigations at Level 5; ensuring that an investigation, the reporting of findings and recommendations are carried out to best practice standards.

Contact

Should you wish to discuss how Sancus can support you with an Investigation Outcome Assurance review, please contact Tony Hester on 01772 282800 or via e-mail tonyhester@sancussolutions.co.uk