Thorndale Foundation moved from paper-based incident reporting to one system for quality and compliance
Cathy Gault, CEO, on making quality easier to manage for a small team, so there is more time for participants.
Organisation
Thorndale Foundation
Based in
Nepean, Hawkesbury and lower Blue Mountains, NSW
Contact
Cathy Gault, Chief Executive Officer
Centro QMS features
Policies and procedures, incident and complaint management, improvements
The starting point
Thorndale Foundation has been providing opportunity and equality for people with disability in the Nepean, Hawkesbury and lower Blue Mountains regions of NSW since 1959. Its vision is a community where equality is a way of life. It now supports over 200 participants, is recognised in Western Sydney as a disability organisation of choice, and has a strong family feel and a culture of caring.
With the arrival of the NDIS quality and safeguarding framework, and a need to systemise quality to deliver on that vision, Thorndale turned to Centro ASSIST for a Quality Management System.
As a small management team, they wanted something that made quality and compliance easier to manage. It had to be simple to set up, easy to use and save real time, so there was more focus on participants. That meant ready-made policies, procedures and audit content they could adopt quickly, and a way to manage incidents, complaints and improvements.
Setting up policies
Cathy chose to start from Centro QMS's pre-built content and adapt it to suit Thorndale. That content is written by industry experts, aligned to the NDIS Practice Standards and reviewed on an ongoing basis for compliance.
Cathy and the team now edit and manage their policies from within Centro QMS. There was a view that creating procedures would need full-time resources, but once staff were introduced to the system, they found it simple to use.
From paper to instant
Incidents and complaints used to be managed on paper, kept at each house. Now they go through a digital system, and Cathy is notified as soon as something is reported. The right people are made aware straight away.
Thorndale also uses Centro QMS to capture feedback and improvements. A way to submit feedback sparks conversations about whether something should be done differently. The improvements logged range from maintenance requests to internal audit non-compliances and ideas for better services, and Cathy can see how long things take to complete and follow up anything outstanding.
Staying on top of change
With so many regulatory and best practice changes, it is hard to keep up with what needs doing. Cathy found the compliance updates from Centro especially useful. When new requirements such as meal management and disaster planning came in, Centro already had them covered, and the linking between policies and their sources was the best part.
Thorndale has now embedded Centro QMS in its daily workflows. The next focus is onboarding, using the required reading feature to show that a policy or procedure has been read and understood. Cathy's message to anyone in her position is to make the switch.
Before
- Incidents and complaints on paper, kept at each house
- A small management team stretched across quality and compliance
- A belief that writing procedures needed full-time resources
After
- Incidents and complaints reported digitally, with the right people notified straight away
- Ready-made policies adapted and managed in one place
- Feedback and improvements recorded, tracked and followed up
When something is reported, I get notified.
Cathy Gault, Chief Executive Officer, Thorndale Foundation
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