Ensuring the quality of social services is a central goal of public authorities and service providers across Europe. The European Social Network has developed a European Framework for Quality in Social Services, aiming to help authorities and providers with responsibility for social services establish and review their quality standards.
HIQA, the Irish Quality Inspection Agency, was strongly involved in co-creating the framework and will present how it uses it to review its own quality assurance processes to develop national standards. Gipuzkoa county council, Spain, is in the process of establishing its own quality standards and an inspection agency, framed on the basis of the framework proposed by ESN.
Participants in the session will learn about ESN’s proposal for a European Framework for Quality in Social Services, and how these two agencies have used the framework for either review or create their own.
Presentation Language: English
Moderator:
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Martin Lichte, Senior Policy Officer, European Social Network
Presenters:
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Leire Calvo Álvarez de Arcaya, Director of Agenda, Innovation and Evaluation, Gipuzkoa County Council, Basque Country, Spain
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Niamh O’Rourke, Head of Standards, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), Ireland
Meet the presenters
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Leire Calvo Álvarez de Arcaya, Director of Agenda, Innovation and Evaluation, Gipuzkoa County Council, Basque Country Leire Calvo works in the field of social services policy and evaluation at the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain). Her work focuses on the design, implementation, and assessment of quality frameworks for social services, with a strong emphasis on evidence-based policy, service evaluation, and continuous improvement. She is currently involved in the development of the Care Evaluation Agency of Gipuzkoa, including the adaptation and testing of European quality standards promoted by the European Social Network (ESN). Her experience combines public governance, methodological innovation, and multi-actor collaboration with professionals, service providers, and service users. At the conference, she will present the Gipuzkoa experience of validating quality standards in real service contexts and discuss lessons learned for transferability across European social services systems. |
Niamh O’Rourke, Head of Standards, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Dr Niamh O’Rourke has almost 40 years experience working in health and social care services, both in Ireland and internationally. Her current role as Head of Standards in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in Ireland and previous role in the Department of Health in Ireland provide a unique set of skills and experience, combining regulatory oversight, national health policy, evidence-based practice, implementation science, and national quality standards. Niamh contributed to the ESN working group on Quality in Social Services, culminating in the publication of the European Framework on Quality in Social services in 2025.
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