The issue of meeting quality standards in residential social service facilities in the Pilsen region

The quality of social services can be guaranteed by inspection according to predefined, measurable criteria. In the social sphere these comprise quality standards of social services. Quality standards are defined as a set of criteria through which the level of quality of provision of social services in the sphere of personnel and operational provision of social services and in the sphere of relations between the provider and the clients is defined. The aim of the work was to find out what problems are encountered by residential facilities in the Plzeň Region when they are introducing quality standards of social services. A partial aim of the work was to outline possible options as to how to optimise the given state. Data was obtained through a qualitative survey. The interviewing method, semi-guided interview technique and content analysis of documents were selected in order to achieve the goals of the work. The survey took place in selected residential social-care facilities in the Plzeň Region. The conducted survey implied that standard No. 2 Protection of personal rights and standard No. 5 Individual planning are considered by the facilities as more complex in terms of implementation yet very beneficial in practice. Also, the formulation and definition of standards, especially in the case of standard No. 1 Goals and methods of provision of social services created difficulties. Other problems that are encountered by the facilities include motivation, time demands and administrative load of the staff. Proposed solutions for the optimisation of the current situation are directed into the area of awareness, use of information technologies, and improvement of the lifelong education system. The following hypothesis was formulated based on the qualitative survey: the qualifications of social workers and social service workers achieved influence the introduction of quality standards. The diploma thesis may become an inspiration and a source of information for facilities that are adjusting the existing proposals or are dealing with the initial introduction of quality standards of social services. In particular, the above suggestions for optimisation, a more detailed elaboration of which could become the subject of another work in the social sphere, can be of major benefit