Quality Assurance Systems in Essex Fire and Rescue Service - Report Example

QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS IN ESSEX FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE NAME COURSE MOUDLE INSTRUCTOR DATE OF SUBMISSION Essex Fire & Rescue Report Abstract: Due to the recent change in United Kingdom (UK) government (July 2010) and political direction it has been stated that they will abolish Comprehensive Area Assessments and cut local government inspections from October 2010. The report will be compiled by a) Critically assessing the strengths and benefits of the key quality assurance systems used by the Fire & Rescue Service pre government change July 2010. b) Critically evaluate the suitability of available quality assurance systems that relate to the key strategic objectives set out in the existing IRMP projection for the Essex Fire and Rescue. In making recommendations of best fit quality assurance systems for the future and it will consider the requirements within the Essex FRS National framework document 2008 - 2011. c) Critically review the application of the recommended quality assurance systems which been chosen to ensure reliable proof of quality. Introduction Quality assurance refers to a system of regular technical activities aimed at measuring and controlling the quality of services offered by an organisation/institution. Quality assurance systems provide periodical and consistent checks to ensure high-quality service delivery by identifying bottlenecks in the authority’s operations and subsequently reviewing them to improve service delivery. As a result, procedures aimed at ensuring quality service delivery are documented and distributed within the authority as standard operating procedure. Quality assurance systems are developed by:- a) Agreeing on basic standards such as staff and organisational performance and matching them to the external expectations from the authority b) Conducting a self-assessment whereby the authority measures its performance and achievement against the expectations that act as a benchmark. c) Develop an action plan to tackle the areas where the organisation falls short of its expectations. The action plan specifies the steps to be taken and the modalities in which they are to be taken. d) Implementation of the action plan e) Review of the progress made after implementing the action plan in comparison with the authority’s expectations. Quality assurance systems enable fire authorities to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. These systems are put in place by considering the authority’s short and long-term objectives and the stakeholder’s interests as a tool to evaluate and review the authority’s performance over a period of time. Additionally, the quality assurance systems aim at strengthening any existent relationships and partnerships between the authority and the external environment. In a nutshell, quality service delivery in terms of reduced losses and shorter response times to emergencies signifies smooth internal processes within the authority and therefore improved relations. Methodology Towards compiling this report, primary data pertaining to the authority’s past policies and performance have been utilised. This data has been collected mainly via the internet and seeks to evaluate the evolution of QA systems within the authority. Additionally, this data aims at providing insight into the subsequent activities undertaken towards the development of the QA systems within the authority. Having done a background research on the QA systems available within the authority, the report will recommend on effective QA systems that the authority should continue implementing to ensure that they meet their expectations. 1.0 QA Background History Essex Fire Authority has continuously developed its QA Systems through consultations with the staff, partners and other authority stakeholders in order to identify what the community expects from them through service delivery. From a 2005 Fire and Rescue CPA, the authority was rated as fair whereby the assessment concentrates on performance management (p3). The area of performance management holds numerous improvement opportunities that the management could exploit to improve service delivery. The report noted that the authority’s management style was autocratic with little flexibility to accommodate change and modernisation resulting to employee alienation thus impacting on productivity (Audit Commision 2005, p4). From the report, the leadership and priorities theme in the Fire Authority’s Achievement was below minimum requirements indicating inadequate performance in the management level. However, it should be noted that CPA focuses on management that is a part of QA system. From the authority’s service strategy, meeting community needs is the foremost priority in an effort to make communities safer, deal with disasters and emergency efficiently. The FRS covers the second largest County in England that hosts airports, agricultural and other industries, nuclear plants and oil refineries. The county’s inhabitants face great danger from these facilities and service delivery should be reliable and effective to reduce loss of property and lives. From the 2005 CPA, the authority’s workforce was found to be less diverse and not reflective of the county’s population. The authority’s workforce was composed of women at 11.4 per cent despite accounting for 51 per cent of the county’s population (p15). Diverse workforces enable in the development of customer-centred services that provides a benchmark in the assessment of the effectiveness of QA systems. Prior to July 2010, the FRS relied on the audit commissions and CPAs to provide information on operational weaknesses and hence the authority can only improve once the assessment is complete. These assessment tool proved enabled authorities to assess and improve their performance on an annual basis and did not take into consideration the relationship between the authority and other external stakeholders. CPAs were regulatory requirements and the fire authority had to provide audit commissions with sufficient information in order for the commission to provide an opinion on the soundness of the authority’s operations. It was therefore easier for the commissions to access structured information that the authority’s management was required to record. CPA‘s focussed on 3 main areas namely:- a) The authority’s goals and objectives b) Modes of delivering on its priorities c) The authority’s achievements and its next course of action (Audit Commission 2005, p5) The corporate plan arises from the authority’s vision and mission statements that can be pursued through excellent leadership, balanced strategies, resource, people and performance management as well as exploitation of future opportunities and challenges. As quality assurance systems, the CPA could easily be linked to the annual financial report to identify areas that require improvements and where performance should be maintained. Systems such as management performance systems aimed at ensuring the effective implementation of the strategy for reducing fire-related deaths and injuries have been developed within the corporate governance framework. The benefit of such systems is that the management is able to identify milestones and review the strategy implementation progress hence keeping track on the authority’s performance. 2.0 QA Systems and their Relation to Key Strategic Objectives Essex FRS disintegrates its vision into 4 parts namely:- a) The public – the authority aims at providing resources as per the needs of the community thereby improving accessibility b) Communities – to be achieved through joint partnerships in emergency service planning and delivery as well as shared responsibilities, assets and services with the communities c) Taxpayers – strategy includes the adoption of flexible crewing systems that adapt to the dynamic demands d) Staff – to be strategically achieved through devolved leadership, capacity building and embracing a dynamic workforce to understand the community’s needs and risks. The IRMP 2011-2014 (p5) states that from implementing the above strategies, the authority aims at:- a) Striking a balance between service delivery and cost incurred b) Allocating resources where the community needs are high c) Adopt a more preventive approach to emergencies rather than responsive especially for higher risk areas d) Improve relationships within and outside the authority e) Improve resource allocation decisions based on intelligence-led risk assessment With the dynamic needs of the communities, the following QA systems are appropriate in developing standard operating procedures to maintain and improve on service delivery. 2.1 ISO Standards These standards are internationally accepted benchmarks aimed at ensuring quality management practices. The ISO 9001:2008 provides standardised requirements for a quality management system irrespective of the organisation’s nature. Summers (2007, p27) states that the ISO standards focus on how well the authority is able to meet its user’s expectations by providing a tested framework for a systematic approach towards the management of processes aimed at ensuring satisfaction of the community’s needs. Notable of the QA system is its specification of the requirements of a quality system without restricting the mode with which organisations achieve these requirements (Summers 2007, p51). This enables the authority to encompass its values, cultures and norms into its standard policies and operating procedures to provide it with a unique approach to conducting its operations. However for the implementation of the ISO standards, the authority will be required to set up a quality control department that could increase operational costs. The standards also allow the authority’s clients to audit its processes and protocols to ensure quality service delivery. This is in accordance with the Fire & Rescue Services Act (2004) that provides that the Secretary of State can intervene in the operations of the Fire and Rescue Authority if they consider it to be failing (p10). 2.2 Health and Safety Principles This system aims at providing information pertaining to the processes and activities within an organisation with the objective of controlling risks to health and safety (Health & Safety Exec. 2001, p7). The health and safety management system:- a) Provides practical information on how the system operates b) Identify areas where immediate action to enhance health and safety is required c) Provides a framework for continuous improvement of the processes, strategies and activities This system is related to the preventive aspect of service delivery as a way of reducing fire-related disasters and emergencies within the community. The health and safety management system seeks at providing communities with information pertaining to their health and fire safety as a way of reducing fire incidents within the community hence reduced operational costs and improved resource utilisation. The health and safety performance system takes into consideration the information needs required by the key decision makers within the authority (Health & Safety Exec. 2001, p 8&9). This includes the key personnel in the senior, middle and operational levels of management. Information enables the management to identify where they lie towards the achievement of their objectives, what actions are necessary to depending on the constraints and the way the actions should be undertaken. Additionally, this system aligns the departmental objectives to the overall objectives of the authority and hence decision making takes time. This has the potential to further delay the response times arising from interdepartmental consultations. 2.3 Project Management principles - PRINCE 2 This QA system calls for the integration of the project management principles into the running of the authority’s operations. The PRINCE 2 is a process based system that develops project plans that are keen on the delivery of results (Hoyle 2007, p67). As a QA system, the establishment of a quality control board is essential towards the achievement of the authority’s objectives whereby the board addresses the physical and technical aspects of the authority’s operations. Hoyle notes that the major weakness of this system is that it allows for autocratic leadership as majority of the decision making is performed by the board that advices the senior management for implementation (2007, p116). This goes against the authority’s strategic approach of ensuring a devolved leadership. As a result, crucial challenges facing departments are not taken into consideration hence the potential of resulting into increased inefficiencies in service delivery. 2.4 Six Sigma This QA system focuses on core business operations with a view of improving them towards the realisation of its objectives. The main objective of the system is to implement aggressive processes to systematically tackle the defects and inefficiencies (Munro 2007, p14). Through the implementation process, the QA system delivers high performance, value and reliability to the users of the authority’s services. Notable of the system is its two main methodologies namely DMAIC and DMADV that are used to improve existing processes and introducing new client-oriented services (Munro 2007, 63). With the expected reduction in funding and reduced expenditure for the FRS, the dynamic six sigma QA system is most suitable for the authority’s operations as it will support the most needed re-structuring. However, the system will require a review of the entire authority operations and hence results will not be immediate until all the operations are reviewed in all the 32 fire stations present in the county (Munro 2007, p185). 3.0 Validity and Benefits of the Quality Assurance (QA) Systems 3.1 ISO Standards These are a set of internationally accepted quality standards that match the organisation’s operations to its preset objectives. The system defines roles and responsibilities in the organisation and it mainly focuses on improving efficiency by highlighting service inefficiencies. Summers (2008, p81) provides the benefits of the ISO standards to include:- It is an internationally accepted standard and hence the authority will be able to gauge itself in relation to other similar authorities at a regional and international level. The standard allows the much needed flexibility in terms of incorporating the authority’s values and cultures into its strategy in order to achieve that unique outlook Since no single QA system can fully address the authority’s change requirements, the ISO Standards are highly compatible with other QA systems to ensure the development of effective policies and procedures. 3.2 Health and Safety Principles The Health and Safety Principles benefits include:- The system addresses the risk-aspect of the fire service providers and seeks to reduce their exposure to health risks given the high-risk facilities within the county As a means to reduce operational costs, the authority has adopted a preventive rather than a responsive strategy by emancipating the communities and encouraging them to observe various safety rules. This has been complemented by collaborating with communities and conducting regular house inspections to ensure that the safety rules are observed 3.3 Project Management Principles – PRINCE 2 The benefits of this QA system include:- Ensures centralised operations from the board that ensures a clear direction towards the achievement of preset objectives. This is essential especially since the departmental objectives are aligned with the overall authority objectives (Besterfield 2009, p57). The board’s director has the authority to re-allocate resources by preparing and endorsing budgets. The IRMP (p12) states that the authority is currently working on resource re-allocation and this QA system supports the authority’s strategy of allocating resources according to its priorities. 3.4 Six Sigma Munro (2007, p108) states that the benefits of the Six Sigma QA System include:- It allows the management to conduct a deeper insight of the authority’s operations so as to identify and improve on deficiencies and ineffectiveness. This is made possible through the DMAIC model that reviews the current operations of the authority The QA system focuses on both the deficiencies and variations thereby matching quality improvement to financial results. The system allows the management to define the future by addressing the required skills, organisation structure and how strategies will be implemented. Additionally, the system leaves room for future adjustments depending on the internal and external environments 4.0 Application of Recommended QA Systems From the IRMP 2011-2014, the authority seeks to reduce fire risk for high-risk groups that mainly includes children and the elderly, achieve a proportionate cover where service is matched to risk and flexible cover that adjusts to risk changes (p5). The application of the Health and Safety Management System will enable the authority to reduce the risks to the high risk groups by developing safety programs for the communities and conducting regular inspections of how well the safety policies are being adhered to. Moreover, the Six Sigma and ISO Standards QA systems have the capability to develop policies that adapt to the risk environment. The application of ISO standards allows for more collaboration with the communities to deliver client-focussed products to support community prevention and protection activities. Additionally, the six sigma QA system enables services, responsibilities and assets are shared with partners and communities. Through the 2 methodologies of the Six Sigma, collaborating with communities and partners is much easier and assists in service improvement and development (Munro 2007, p67). In the application of the QA systems, the authority’s management should:- a) The management should review its IRMP and identify areas of deficiency and prepare course actions to eliminate the deficiencies b) The authority’s management structure should also be reviewed to allow room for the implementation of the course actions as well as development of strategies that complement the QA systems c) Benchmarks should be established to facilitate the assessment of the level of success in the implementation of the laid down strategies d) The QA systems should provide feedback to the management to ensure immediate action especially where variances are evident Conclusion QA systems perform crucial roles within an organisation as they seek to enhance service delivery as well as increase operational efficiency. The review and evaluation of these systems enable the institution to check the suitability of their operations to the internal and external environment. This exercise enables the authority to evaluate their business process and identify any underlying deficiencies that could be corrected to increase the utilisation of the available resources. Notably, the fire and rescue authority has evaluated its processes and procedures towards ensuring cost reduction and the delivery of quality services. As the modern business environment continues to evolve, it is prudent that organisations change their internal control systems to suit the business environment. On the other hand, quality assessment systems continue to evolve as they seek to provide a single QA system solution to organisations. Therefore, the organisation should constantly review its QA systems so as to establish their relevance to the authority’s objective and exploit other QA systems that are available. However, the organisation should first identify the crucial stages in service delivery and focus on these areas in order to improve service delivery. References Audit Commission (2005). CPA Report July 2005. Retrieved from < http://www.essex- fire.gov.uk/images/izone/CPA05finalreport_2_1.pdf > on 14th February 2011 Besterfield, Dale (2009). Quality Control, 8th Ed. New York, Pearson/Prentice Hall. Essex County FRS; Corporate Plan 2008-11. Accessed from < http://www.essex- fire.gov.uk/images/izone/Corporate_Plan_2008-11_Email_Size.pdf > on 14th February 2011 Health & Safety Executive (2001). A Guide to Measuring Health & Safety Performance. Retrieved from www.hse.gsi.gov.uk on 14TH February 2011 Hoyle, David (2007). Quality Mgmt Essentials. OUP, Massachusetts. IRMP 2011-14. Accessed from < http://www.essex- fire.gov.uk/images/izone/IRMP_2010_FINAL_LOW_RES_1.pdf > on 14th February 2011 Munro, Roderick (2007). The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Hndbk. Sydney, ASQ Quality Prss. Raymond, Ellis, Edward, Schilling & Dean, Neaubauer (2005). Process Quality Ctrl: Troubleshooting & Interpretation of Data, 4th Ed. Sydney, ASQ Quality Prss. Summers, Donna (2008). Quality Mgmt. New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Read More