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. The Department of Care and Social Policies – Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Spain) – is in the process of launching its Agency for the Evaluation of Care and Social Policies. To this end, it is designing evaluation standards based on the framework proposed by the European Social Network (ESN), as well as on local evaluation experiences.
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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Maite Peña, Minister for Care and Social Policy, Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, 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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Maite Peña, Minister for Care and Social Policy, Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Basque Country Maite Peña holds a degree in Law and has extensive experience in social and health care governance in the Basque Country. She is a member of the Basque Council for Social and Health Care, the Basque Council for Social Services, and the Basque Council for Social Inclusion, contributing to strategic decision-making and policy coordination across social care systems. Her work focuses on strengthening public social services, improving quality standards, and promoting integrated and inclusive care models. Through her involvement in institutional advisory bodies, she supports the development of evidence-based policies aimed at enhancing quality of life, social cohesion, and equity in access to care. At the conference, she brings a policy-level perspective on quality standards and governance in 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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