Approaches to quality for third sector organisations delivering social care in Scotland

Purpose: Third sector organisations are required by key stakeholders, such as government funders and regulators, to implement quality initiatives to make operations effective, fulfil strategic priorities and contribute to their long-term viability. Furthermore, improving the quality of services is considered a health and social care priority. However, there is little evidence from the literature on the implications of implementing quality for the third sector. This paper aims to improve understanding of how third sector organisations in social care address their stakeholder requirements.

Methodology: Drawing on interviews and observations from third sector organisations delivering social care in Scotland, the research explores how quality initiatives are identified, adopted, implemented and evaluated.

Findings: Operating in a complex knowledge deficit field driven by key stakeholder requirements, third sector organisations drew on informal and formal networks to support inter-organisational learning on quality approaches. This was relevant to the identification, adoption and implementation of approaches to quality, and revealed a gap in respect of evaluation. The most recognised quality approach in use was the EFQM Model. Findings also showed that quality initiatives were closely connected with mission and values. With implications for both policy and practice in the recently integrated health and social care services in Scotland, this exploratory research improves our understanding of the barriers to implementing quality, as well as the factors which may contribute to its effectiveness. 2

Research limitations: This research focuses on large, major, and super major third sector organisations with capacity to support such initiatives. Small and micro third sector organisations are unlikely to have similar resources to devote to implementing quality initiatives, despite similar demands from stakeholders, and future research should be directed to such organisations.

Originality/Value: This paper uses empirical evidence to add to the body of knowledge on the application of quality for third sector organisations, as little research has been done in this area this makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge, with implications for policy and practice.