Commitment to Quality

The commitment to Quality at the Countess of Chester Fertility & Assisted Conception Unit

The Fertility Unit Vision:

Our vision is to provide in an open and honest and friendly environment, the highest standards of individualised care to help all patients realise their dream to have a child, or to come to terms with their childlessness.

The Fertility Unit Mission Statement:

"The Fertility Unit will consistently aim to provide an individualised package of care for all couples referred to the Unit. The intention of the Unit and all the members of the healthcare team, is to ensure that all patients and clients receive safe and effective care in an environment which nurtures and supports them through their journey. We will aim to listen and learn from our patients and clients at every opportunity to consistently strive to ensure our service is patient centred and of the highest quality"

The Goal of every service and practice is to achieve a high level of professionalism and quality which can be maintained in a continuous structured way. This is specifically true when related to health care provision and is one of the most important values and accomplishments required by our own professional self regulation, our clients /patients and society itself. The provision of a quality service therefore not only enhances the client / patient experience but also allows for the development of knowledge, exact methods, experience and innovation in diagnosis and treatment. To this end the Countess of Chester Fertility and Assisted Conception Unit management team have implemented a Quality management System supported by the ISO 9001:2000 external assessment process. The following information is taken from the units Quality Manual and represents the underpinning ethos of the quality management system.

Quality Policy and Mission Statement

The mission statement and Quality Policy were developed by the Quality Team and will be reviewed annually at the business planning away event to ensure it continues to:

be appropriate to the purpose of the Fertility Unit
include a commitment to comply with requirements and to improve the effectiveness of the Quality Management System
provide a framework for establishing and reviewing quality objectives
be communicated and understood within the Fertility Unit
be suitable.

For communication and dissemination please see the internal communication section. A copy of the Quality Policy is displayed in the patient areas and is available through the website for patients.

The Fertility Unit Quality Policy:

We Will

Work to ensure that the service we deliver to our users is in line with their expectations.
Strive to ensure that we maintain the highest possible standards of health, safety and welfare for our staff, patients, visitors and stored material under our care.
Work to remain up-to-date on recent technical, legal, ethical and managerial changes which impinge upon the services we provide.
Monitor the effectiveness of our working practices, procedures and systems to ensure continual improvement of our quality management system.
Work to meet the requirements of all relevant legislation including that of the EUTCD 2004/23/EC, the HF&E Act 1990 and the HFEA standards for assisted conception.
Continually work to ensure that the standards of the HFEA and ISO 9001:2000 are implemented, monitored and reviewed. Where failures are identified these will be rectified in line with policy and process.
Ensure that our quality standards are implemented, monitored and reviewed in order to continually improve our service.
Always welcome suggestions from staff, patients and relevant professionals.