Quality Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Quality Standards - Essay Example The paper further provides a comparative analysis of the strategies adopted by the department before and after the abolishment of the CAAs. Introduction According to Cote (2009), the Quality Assurance (QA) systems used by the Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) have traditionally been developed from several important commitments and principles outlined by the government with regards to public services. The framework for QA is based primarily on developing long-term policies and strategies that deliver tangible outcomes without focusing solely on short-term issues. The quality of service provided is measured with respect to the satisfaction levels among citizens and whether they full all their requirements. As such, QA procedures and systems used by the Nottinghamshire FRS do not give any special preference towards providers. Improving efficiency and providing quicker services without any room for mediocrity are also other parameters that have been given due importance by the QA systems (Odpm, 2009). As the subsequent paragraphs will demonstrate, the Nottinghamshire FRS also realizes the crucial role of technology in its operations and has made some important investments to include technological developments within its internal workflows. From an economic perspective, Nottinghamshire has faced two major challenges over the preceding decade. PAC (2009) says that the region faces a low level of innovation and income levels when compared on a national scale which has resulted in fewer jobs within the private sector. Between 2008 and 2009, the local economy faced the greatest challenge from the financial crisis and global recession. This has increased unemployment and has affected several industrial sectors within Nottinghamshire. In this scenario, the public sector has emerged as a major provider of jobs in the country. In the case of the Nottinghamshire FRS, the situation presents a challenge in terms of providing quality service to citizens, planning for future expenses more carefully and creating more jobs within the existing financial constraints (Wilkinson, 2010). Another issue that faces the region is the rapidly aging population, which is expected to double by 2025 (Hessami, 2009). These demographic trends have prompted a long-term challenge to the Nottinghamshire FRS when planning future services. The FRS notes that elderly people are prone to depend more on rescue services then other age classes. Besides, the pressure from a larger elderly population, enhanced by age-related health problems and pensioner poverty, is only likely to increase their dependence on the FRS. The department has been working towards improving its response times in such cases and is contemplating several educational programs to instruct elderly people on the danger of dwelling fires, which have been noted as primary causes of mishaps among people aged above 80 (National UK Fire Statistics, 2009). This paper provides a discussion of the agency’s quality assessment performance before and after the abolition of the Comprehensive area assessments (CAA) introduced in 2009. Methodology The