What are Young Inspectors?
Young Inspectors are young people who have been trained to assess and inspect health services across Greater Manchester, to ensure that they are both (youth) friendly and meet the guidelines set out in The Greater Manchester Youth Agreement. The Greater Manchester Youth Agreement was created in 2018 by both professionals and young people, with its aim being to create environments where young people feel that the health services are supporting their needs.
Bee Counted, our group, allows anyone between the ages 14 – 25 to participate and become a Young Inspector. We believe that youth and the problems that come with it don’t just stop when you hit the “adult” mark at 18 years. Instead, the progression into adulthood is rather slow and can take more than a few years.
We inspect health services. These health services range from hospitals, to mental health clinics with multiple locations. It is truly interesting to us to see how many different health services and centres there are across Greater Manchester, and it allows us to fully comprehend how much help there actually is available and how much has improved.
Why are the Young Inspectors needed?
Youth Inspectors are crucial because inspections of health services aimed solely at the quality of treatment towards young people have rarely been done before. Young Inspectors not only ensure that health services are meeting the required standards of quality and safety stated in The Greater Manchester Youth Agreement, but also identify areas where improvements are needed.
We can then help the healthcare providers implement better practices with our recommendations. We are able to ensure that healthcare providers are held accountable for the quality of care and support they provide. By assessing and writing a report, we are able to give our own feedback, and therefore help the healthcare providers make necessary changes.
We hope to give a unique and perhaps enlightening viewpoint to the services, so that, altogether, many people of all age ranges have had the chance to make the health services a more welcoming and supportive place.
What training do Young Inspectors have?
When initially signing up to take part in the campaign, we attend training sessions (whether online or in person) with the other new people, to get a basic gist of what the campaign is about. Training topics include what young people think makes a good inspector, the importance of recognising unconscious bias, and the role of the young inspector in the inspection process.
However, the experience we get after attending our first few sessions is paramount as it allows us to develop our own style and technique when asking questions.
How does an inspection work?
To begin with, our team leaders, Hannah McMullan and Lucy Grimward, are contacted by the health centre requesting an inspection of their services. Inspections can take place at a location of their choosing, though commonly they are at either the actual health service building (or one of them) or online on a set date.
A list of possible dates and timings is drawn up, and our team as a whole are presented with them. Whoever is available and willing volunteers to take part in that inspection. Sometimes, there may be a whole group of Young Inspectors, while at other times (particularly during exam season) there may be only 2 or 3 sitting in. Even so, every inspection is done with the utmost care and enthusiasm.
Here is an overview of the session:
- The full session overall lasts 2 hours.
- 0 – 30 minutes:
Young Inspectors and team meet up (online or in person) prior to the actual inspection. We go over the pre-inspection questionnaire together if needed and choose which part of the pre-prepared questions we are each going to be asking.
- 30 – 1hr 30 minutes:
Health service people join the call, or we go and meet them. Inspection takes place. We ask questions based on topics like Access and Location of the health service; Communication; and Specific support for young people etc.
While the designated person is asking the questions, the rest of us take notes, so that we won’t miss or misremember anything.
- 1hr 30 minutes – 2hrs:
We part with the health service staff and gather our notes into a shared document which acts as rough guide for our actual report.
We draw up a list of days and timings when we are all free and set ua later date to all write up the report together.
5 tips for conducting a good inspection.
- Be friendly! No one particularly likes or wants to be inspected by a robot. It should feel like a conversation, not a police investigation.
- Be as forthcoming as possible when asking questions. Sometimes, the initial questions can be a bit hard to understand, so by explaining the questions in more detail, you reduce the chances of misunderstandings by a lot!
- Ask as many (necessary) follow up questions as possible! This will help ensure that you get a super accurate report and that you don’t accidentally misunderstand anything. However, when asking questions, you should be as cordial as you can, as the extra questions can sometimes lead to the risk of offending the client.
- Prepare in advance. You will be given a pre-questionnaire from the health service, so if possible, you should aim to familiarise yourself with it, in order to decrease the amount of time going over the basics.
- Be observant and pay attention. There is no point to the inspection if you accidentally zone out and miss a large portion of the proceedings. Your notes will be incomplete, and it will be unnecessarily hard later on when you are completing your report.
What makes a good ‘client’?
Generally, a “good” client is someone who demonstrates a willingness to work collaboratively with us, while also showing a keen curiosity to learn about what they can do better. As to what I have seen in the inspections I have done, it is this type of ‘client’ that tends to give the most transparent and detailed answers to our questions.
Furthermore, it is impressive when the client almost seems to answer many of the questions in one go, without any prompting, as it shows a commitment to ensuring that their organisation is in compliance with regulations and standards. Here are some specific qualities that give the vibe of a “good” client:
- Cooperation: while many of our clients do answer our questions as fully as possible, there are certain times when a question might stump them or make them feel perhaps unsure. This can sometimes lead to halfhearted answers, or even avoidance of the question, which can lead to confusion between the two parties. However, this avoidance tends to give the impression that the client is unaware of the area being highlighted, or even that the answer is negative but they do not want to admit it. This will therefore most likely be seen as an area of improvement in the final report.
- Preparedness: when a client is pre-prepared for any basic knowledge questions about the health centre, it makes the inspection much smoother as it helps reduce any confusion that could hinder the inspection due to misunderstanding.
- Responsiveness: a good client is responsive to the inspectors' questions and is forthcoming when admitting to any possible faults they have. They should take any recommendations seriously.
What effect do Young Inspectors have on organisations?
While we try to give as good recommendations as possible (if need be), it is ultimately the choice of the health care centre on whether they take on the advice or not. A common recommendation we tend to give, as most health centres do not have much in the way of youth participation, is to get into contact with their local Youth Council, as this will provide ample opportunity to get some youth involvement in areas of possible improvement like Specific Care for Young People.
What effect do Young Inspectors have on organisations?
While we try to give as good recommendations as possible (if need be), it is ultimately the choice of the health care centre on whether they take on the advice or not. A common recommendation we tend to give, as most health centres do not have much in the way of youth participation, is to get into contact with their local Youth Council, as this will provide ample opportunity to get some youth involvement in areas of possible improvement like Specific Care for Young People.
What effect has being a Young Inspector had on you?
Over the past 1.5 years, being a Young Inspector has built up my confidence levels and communication skills to a level which before I would never have dreamed of. It has been so incredibly invigorating and enlightening to have met as many healthcare practitioners as I have. Seeing them talk, and seeing how much they seem to care about their work, has made me curious to find out more about a career in health.
What are the Young Inspectors doing next?
The latest cycle has finished and a new one will begin in the next few months with a whole new group of Young Inspectors/team leaders.
How to get involved:
You can get involved as an inspector or as a service to be inspected by contacting Hannah at [email protected]
About me:
My name is Fatima Gondal, and I am an A-level student in Greater Manchester. I do Biology, Chemistry and Maths. In the future, I aspire to go into Medicine, as having been a Young Inspector for almost 2 years now, I have met and conversed with dozens of healthcare practitioners, all of whom have shown me a great love for their career and a passion that resonates within me.
About Youth Focus North West:
Youth Focus North West was founded in the early 90s as North West Regional Youth Service Unit to provide support to Local Authority Youth Services. We have evolved over the years to become Youth Focus North West. We pride ourselves on our strong youth work roots. We work in partnership with young people and organisations to have a voice where it counts. Our youth voice work gives young people the opportunities to make a difference individually, locally, regionally and nationally. We nurture youth work practice and we create networks, broker partnerships and open up opportunities for young people and organisations to work together. Our mission is to improve the lives of young people in the North West