Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 10931 on Audiology: Paediatrics, what recent assessment his Department has made of whether all providers of audiology services for children will meet the UK Accreditation Services Improving Quality in Physiological Services Accreditation standards; and whether his Department has set a date by which they must do so.
NHS England issued a letter to all integrated care boards (ICBs) in August 2023 which included the recommendation that all trusts should be working towards the United Kingdom Accreditation Service’s (UKAS) Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) accreditation, as part of the Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme. This includes that ICBs should ensure that there are plans in place to implement, achieve, or maintain accreditation using the available tools, and that there is oversight of quality management systems. Further information on NHS England’s issued letter is available at the following link:
As part of the programme, NHS England is working with the Care Quality Commission to increase uptake of the UKAS’s IQIPS accreditation and ensure compliance with national diagnostic regulatory standards, alongside a range of other interventions to improve the quality and resilience of these services.