Social care governance: A practice workbook for Northern Ireland

Published: June 2007

Second edition published: April 2013

Every staff member has responsibility for providing good quality social care. Social care governance is the process by which organisations ensure good service delivery and promote good outcomes for people who use services.

It is the responsibility of every practitioner, every manager and every leader in social care to ensure that social care governance is an integral part of their practice and service provision so that there is shared ownership and accountability at every level within the organisation for the standard of social care provided. This resource will be an invaluable tool to assist them in this task.

Key principles of social care governance

The key principles fundamental to the development of a quality service are:

• public and service user involvement
• safety and effectiveness to include supports for staff, including training and development to provide effective services
• robust organisational structures and processes
• quality of service provision through policies and procedures to enable continuous improvement. (From the Quality Standards for Health and Social Care, 2006).

The key principles fundamental to good governance are:

• a clear focus on the organisation’s purpose and outcomes for service users
• clarity about roles and functions
• managing risk and transparent decision making
• engaging with key stakeholders
• ensuring accountability.