To help ensure drug treatment and rehabilitation outcomes are achieved and to maintain a high standard of client safety, Action 45 in the National Drugs Strategy 2009–2016 calls for the introduction of ‘a clinical and organisational governance framework for all treatment and rehabilitation services in Ireland’.

To implement Action 45, the Health Service Executive adopted the QuADS standards as the quality standards for drug and alcohol services in Ireland.1 It has also engaged the Quality Standards Support Project (QSSP) to ‘contextualise’ the QuADS for Irish addiction services.2

Among the supports developed by the QSSP for projects implementing QuADS is the Quality Champions Training. It is designed to enable the learner to develop the skills they will need to champion quality improvement in their service and is delivered as a series of multimedia-based learning modules through Moodle on drugs.ie .

The modules are delivered in five sessions:

•           Session 1: Introduction to quality
•           Session 2: Organisation review and mapping
•           Session 3: Consultation
•           Session 4: Policy writing
•           Session 5: Implementation and policy review

Taking into account the limited resources available in community and voluntary sector services, the online learning platform on drugs.ie/quality was developed to enable learners to access training free of charge, at a time that suits them and in a location convenient to them. When asked to rate the effectiveness of online learning on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 indicates very poor and 10 indicates excellent, participants so far have scored effectiveness at 8. Of the participants so far, 91% have self-reported an increase in their knowledge of quality standards after completing the training.

The training is accessed through a unique login, all learners need in order to participate in the course is access to a PC or laptop with internet access and basic computer skills. The learner can participate in the course at their own pace and complete it in under one day or over four weeks, and all for free.

Following a successful pilot roll-out of the course, Quality Champions Training is now open for registration. To find out more about Quality Champions Training or to register for the course, contact Nicola Corrigan on nicola.corrigan@aldp.ie or quality@aldp.ie.

1 QuADS – Quality in Alcohol and Drug Services – is a quality standards framework developed in the UK by Alcohol Concern and SCODA  in 1999. For more information on QuADS, see the Report of the HSE Working Group examining Quality & Standards for Addiction Services.

2 With the support of the HSE and Dublin’s North Inner-City Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force, the QSSP works to support drug and alcohol services in Ireland. It supports projects to develop their services in line with good practice by providing a sustainable model to support the national development of good practice, providing learning supports, and facilitating the sharing of information between peer agencies in the development of good practice. For more information visit http://www.aldp.ie/services/quality_standards_support_project or contact nicola.corrigan@aldp.ie