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Excellence Ireland Quality Association

 

Results Through Certification and Experience

EQUASS

 

What is EQUASS?

EQUASS is the European Quality in Social Services; it is an initiative of the European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR). EQUASS provides comprehensive services in the area of approval and certification of quality, all of which comply with the European requirements for quality in the provision of Social Services. .EIQA is the licensed Irish partners for EQUASS in the Island of Ireland.

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Aim of EQUASS

EQUASS aims to enhance the personal services sector by engaging service providers in quality and continuous improvement, and by guaranteeing service-users quality of services throughout Europe. EQUASS wants to contribute to the creation of a European market and the modernization of personal services of general interest where service providers can distinguish themselves and use the quality of their service provision as a competitive advantage.

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Who are the EQUASS customers?

EQUASS customers range from public to private and from profit to not for profit social service providers. The common characteristic among EQUASS applicants is their orientation towards results and continuous improvement. These organisations aspire to recognition and cooperation on a European level.

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What is the EQUASS Assurance Standard? 

The Quality Assurance in Social Services (EQUASS Assurance) is a certification system for quality assurance and quality control in social services. It enables organisations which provide services in the social sector to engage in an external certification process at a European level by which they assure quality of their services to service users and other stakeholders.

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How does it work?

The EQUASS Assurance is customised for the social sector and offers a comprehensive approach based on quality criteria and performance indicators using a questionnaire for internal audit and external audit procedures. After sending the application form and the questionnaire for internal audit, a site visit is carried out. During this site visit, an auditor verifies the applicant's evidence by reviewing documentation and conducting interviews with staff, service users and other stakeholders. The results are reported in an audit report. An organisation that meets the EQUASS Assurance criteria will be certified for a period of two years. The process is overseen by the EQUASS Awarding Committee.

Certification by EQUASS Assurance is characterised by:

  1. 38 criteria
  2. The criteria are based on the Principles for Quality
  3. The criteria cover essential elements of Quality Management System (QMS) 
  4. The internal audit is based on a questionnaire approach
  5. The external audit will be carried out based on the questionnaire filled in by the applicant
  6. The auditor will confirm the answers given in this questionnaire during the site visit

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Standards and Certification