PDU stage 2 accreditation
Older people’s mental health services in Kirklees have been recognised as continuing to provide excellent services to local people at a special event in Huddersfield.
The accreditation event was organised to recognise the achievement of the Kirklees older people’s services in gaining stage two accreditation as a practice development unit. Accreditation means that the service is providing care that meets individual needs, helps people to feel empowered and continually improves patient experience. The stage two accreditation builds on the services achievement in 2009 when they were awarded stage one accreditation.
Practice development unit accreditation is awarded by the University of Leeds to services who have demonstrated that they can meet the 15 criteria to show they are providing patient focused care and actively improving patient’s experiences of services. To do this the Kirklees older peoples service provided robust evidence to an external accreditation team and submitted detailed reports about the work which each team has done and how it met these objectives.
During the accreditation event attendees heard from speakers about the work that the community teams have been doing in Kirklees. For example the care home liaison team presented their work on reducing the use of anti-psychotic drugs in care homes by promoting therapeutic alternatives as a way to improve people’s wellbeing. The community therapy day services team also presented their work on the use of life stories as part of therapeutic care. Life stories are created by staff, working closely with a persons family and friends, to collate information on their life which can be used to give others a better understanding of that person, identify patterns of behavior and improve relationships.
The event was also an opportunity for staff to share examples of good practice and discuss how the service could continue to build on this achievement in the future.
Suzanne Wightman, senior manager for practice development in Kirklees older people’s services said, "The community teams have worked very hard to achieve this standard of excellent practice and we are working to ensure that it is delivered consistently to everyone who accesses our services. The accreditation event was an opportunity to recognise and congratulate staff in the service for their hard work. Being a practice development unit raises standards and ensures that we are delivering only the very best for local people using our services and their carers."