Outcome & Evidence - Charterhouse is fully committed and recognises the importance of having an evidence base for practice

Registered Charity No 1077652 Registered in England as a Company Limited by Guarantee No 372853

Home Directory of Members Map of Members Become a member Outcome & Evidence Services Placement Enquires Social Care Benefits Contact Charity Details Careers History News Further Reading Links

The Charterhouse Group - Child and carer

Outcomes and Evidence

Not only is this essential for a model of care to have integrity but it also supports purchasers and providers in demonstrating the outcomes for their young people. Having this theoretical framework and underpinning values allows professionals to be clear about placement expectations, how needs will be met and how this can be evidenced – thus demonstrating best practice and best value.

Evidence base

Deliberately planned therapeutic childcare underpinned by values and theory has been available in the United Kingdom for over 60 years. For a more detailed history on the pioneering figures and some of the key theoretical concepts. In 2002(?) Charterhouse recognised that there was a need to have a framework of standards to allow providers to demonstrate the added value of their work. From this a set of underpinning values and therapeutic standards were created and Charterhouse still use these today in the assessment of new members. In 2005(?) we began working with Community of Communities, a quality improvement service within the Royal College of Psychiatry. Following their very successful work in setting standards and creating accreditation processes in adult services, Community of Communities have been supported in creating the first set of Therapeutic Service Standards for children and young people. The majority of Charterhouse members work with these standards on a day to day basis and are peer reviewed annually to review and improve practice. This process is overseen and coordinated by the Royal College of Psychiatry and we are now supporting Community of Communities to develop accredited practice for the first time. This is a significant development for specialist childcare in the UK and for the first time will give purchasers a reliable and valid quality benchmark.

Detailed information on the work of Community of Communities, the review cycle or to see the therapeutic service standards please click on their logo.

Charterhouse is fully committed and recognises the importance of having an evidence base for practice

Watch a joint presentation between Community of Communities and one of our Charterhouse members (presented at the National Commissioners Conference 2008)