In August, the PRSAS team met with Sarah Claydon, Quality Improvement Project Officer – pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) Accreditation with East of England to discuss the process of engaging a project officer and take a region approach to accreditation. Sarah’s post will be ending towards the end of 2024, and 6 out of the 10 selected services will have completed their site assessment by the end of the 2023/2024 financial year - which a fantastic achievement for everyone involved!  

The PRSAS (Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services Accreditation Scheme) project, led by Sarah Claydon, has significantly advanced pulmonary rehabilitation services in the East of England. Sarah was appointed as the Quality Improvement Project Officer for PR accreditation, with a primary focus on overseeing the non-clinical, project management aspects of the accreditation process. This initiative emerged from discussions between the PRSAS programme manager and a representative from the East of England PR steering group and respiratory network,  aiming to standardise and enhance patient care in pulmonary rehabilitation services across the UK.

Initial conversations about the importance of PR accreditation began during the Respiratory Network’s annual face-to-face event. This gathering provided services with an opportunity to discuss areas where the network could offer support and address challenges. The project was made possible through an innovation fund, which financed both Sarah’s role and provided financial incentives to the 10 services selected to participate. Services interested in taking part submitted expressions of interest, detailing their governance structures, understanding of accreditation requirements, and commitment to working within the project’s timeframe. Those already registered with PRSAS, but yet to make significant progress, were also encouraged to apply, as the project officer’s role was designed to support them in moving forward. Of the 10 services selected, three were already registered with PRSAS. For the remaining seven, the first step was completing their registration. Sarah then met with each service to conduct a thorough assessment of their progress against PRSAS standards, identify starting points, easy wins and a consideration of the longer QI project to ensure accurate timelining was established . During these early meetings, Sarah clarified her role to ensure management and staff understood her position in supporting them through the accreditation journey. She served as a key point of contact between the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and NHS England, helping to facilitate communication and providing services with access to necessary resources. Additionally, she advocated for protected time and management support to ensure services could meet the accreditation requirements. 

One of Sarah’s early actions was to perform a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating for each service, assessing their progress against PRSAS standards. This helped establish a clear understanding of where each service stood in their accreditation journey. Early in the process, she worked to embed sustainable practices, such as incorporating accreditation as a standing item on team meeting agendas and establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs). After this initial phase, Sarah tailored her approach to the specific needs of each service, typically meeting with them bi-monthly. For services requiring additional support, more frequent meetings were held to guide them through the process.

A key lesson from this project was the importance of allowing more flexibility in timelines, particularly to accommodate potential delays, such as the possibility of deferrals during the assessment period. When the project commenced, the assessment timeline and the deferral period was not factored in, additionally, due to clinical demand, the timeframes for registration and gathering evidence in the self-assessment period have needed to be extended. Therefore, allowing for fluctuations within services during this accreditation project and extending  the project officer’s role would have been beneficial for this accreditation project. However, the respiratory clinical network will continue to support accreditation for the next year to ensure the services undertaking the project have the best support and opportunity to achieve accreditation status. 

The shared learning and mutual support fostered by this approach has been a significant highlight, encouraging more services to engage with the accreditation process and helping to build a strong accreditation community within the region . This model is now being considered by other regions to encourage accreditation where uptake has been low. 

Thanks again to Sarah for sharing her experience as the project officer for PR accreditation within the East of England. If you have any questions about accreditation, please contact us via pulmrehab@rcp.ac.uk or check out our website.