Dear EBMT & JACIE Community,
It has been a whirlwind of a month getting to know my new team and the wider EBMT organisation since I started in my new role in early April. Daunting as it has been to step into Eoin McGrath’s shoes, it has been a real joy to meet people in and around the organisation and I could not have asked for a warmer welcome.
As is the case in most healthcare organisations, JACIE is facing a backlog, in our case of inspections to work through, and Covid is still causing major disruption to the logistics of onsite inspections. JACIE developed both ‘short process’ and remote inspection processes to provide additional options for centres, and we will continue to apply these where appropriate, although it is clear that the return to onsite inspections has been welcomed by centres, inspectors and the JACIE office team.
There are a number of other priorities for JACIE, including an IT project to deliver a solution to manage the accreditation process from start to finish. This will enable the centres, inspectors and JACIE team to work on each process in real time and streamline the administration for all parties. This work will commence in the next few weeks, but it is likely to be late 2022/early 23 before we will be training centres and inspectors on this platform.
We are also reviewing the training and engagement strategies with our inspectors, who are at the heart of the inspection process. There will be announcements soon about inspector training for later this year as well as an event for our existing inspectors. We are hugely indebted to our inspectors who continue to deliver in the face of challenges with the new processes and the increased complexity of the Standards as well as the logistical challenges caused by travel and other restrictions.
Lastly, work will start later this year on the 9th Edition of JACIE-FACT Standards even if it feels like only yesterday when the 8th Edition of Standards came into effect. This work would not be possible without the huge commitment of all the Committee members reading, evaluating and debating the Standards with our American colleagues. There will be a call for volunteers in the late summer/early autumn, so please look out for the announcements.
JACIE clearly has some significant challenges to resolve post-pandemic, but I have been struck by the enthusiasm and the commitment of everyone involved to find options and solutions to improve and review the processes. It can be hard to open up to internal and external scrutiny at times, but if there’s one thing we have all learned from the pandemic, it is our capacity for change.
I am very much looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible, whether virtually or face to face. In the meanwhile, please do not hesitate to contact me on Tuula.Rintala@ebmt.org.
With very best wishes,
Tuula
Director, Advocacy and Quality of Care