Quality-What it means for us.

For a lot of us the term quality has been used so much and so often over the last twenty years or so that we no longer see it as anything but part of a glib statement announced by any organisation regardless of the real meaning, or rather spirit, of the word.

As a member of the National Mind network of local Mind associations (we are all independent organisations) we have agreed to sign up to and endorse their Quality in Mind standards. Cynically this consists of 86 pages of tick boxes we have to show we meet. Less cynically we hope that by meeting these standards will improve what we do ‘behind the scenes’ as it were and so improve our service as a whole. However, for us, the real test is the effect it has on our customers, the general public of Tameside Oldham and Glossop.

From the moment you decide to get something from us we hope the word quality will be apparent. From the helpfulness of your first visit or phone call; the decor and furnishings; the warmth and professionalism of our workers through to getting something from us worthwhile. Unless you leave your first contact with us  thinking “that was pretty good , I’m glad I went there” then 86 pages of ticked boxes are not worth the paper they are ticked on.

We try to be good and we try to be better but we are also human (apart from the dog and the fish that is) and inevitably we don’t always get it right. In fact sometimes we might get it plain wrong. So if you are not satisfied or you think we could do things better tell us! If we are not told we won’t learn. Often things like this can be sorted by a quiet word with a worker either in person or via phone or email. At other times this might not be enough and we would then encourage you to use our complaints procedure. Please click here to view this.

Of course, we hope that most of the time we are doing things right in which case let us know that as well. We love watching each other blush from praise!

As part of our commitment to Quality in Mind we have a Continuous Improvement Programme led by a Quality Task Group. Fancy words to say that we have a rolling programme to review what we do and how we do it to ensure we always aim for the best. This is to ensure that we remain fit for purpose and take account of changes in the external environment as well as internal working practices. This on-going review is the responsibility of all sections of the organisation from the Executive Committee through to the Paid Staff and the Volunteers and incorporating the views of yourselves; our customers and clients.

As part of this we run Customer Focus Events 2-3 times a year. This is an opportunity for the general public to come along eat free cake and drink great coffee and meet up with members of the Executive Committee,, paid workers and volunteers to tell us what you like about us and what we could do better. Please phone or email us about the next event.

Finally we have tried to put into words what we do here and how we do things here. Easier said than done. If you would like to see how well (or not) we did this please click here for our Mission Statement, Aims and Objectives.

This page is all about quality which always starts and finishes with the public. Tell us what you think.

Richard Edwards

Director,

For and on behalf of Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind