Six local authorities have bought the Bristol Standard and are part of the group known as the Bristol Standard Family which is headed by Bristol and the Development Group. These counties are committed to the process of the Bristol Standard and lead officers meet regularly as a group to ensure consistency in training and support.
The six counties are:
Gloucestershire
Wiltshire
North Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset (BANES)
Plymouth
Slough
The lead officers all represent their counties on the South West Quality Improvement Network group which is led by Gill Maddocks from Wiltshire. Gill is the group’s representative on the National Quality Improvement Network which meets in London. Through these groups the Bristol Standard Family ensures that they are fully up to date with Quality Improvement developments and the Government’s perspective on Quality. In addition they are able to network with Quality Improvement officers from all the other counties in the South West so have a broad perspective of the quality initiatives that are happening elsewhere.
The validation days rotate around the counties with assessors travelling to each one in turn over the year. The range of assessors ensures a transparent and fair validation process with no county validating their own submissions. The lead officers carry out the quality control checks on the day.
All lead officers are involved in the current review of the Bristol Standard and have been part of a working group to develop a presentation on the Quality Improvement Principles for local authorities.