EQIS - How it Works
Things to Think About
To undertake EQIS organisations need to already have the required policies in place. The framework can be used as a tool to support the initial set up and development of an organisation, however, the MHPB will not assess any organisations that are unable to provide the required policies in Section 1.
Organisations applying will be asked to provide documented proof and feedback of examples of evidence to show they meet the 8 sections. To help you through the process examples of evidence are provided but this is not exhaustive. Any assessment of an organisation will necessarily reflect the different circumstances in which it operates including funding, annual turnover, staffing levels and numbers of volunteers.
How does it work?
1) Complete Section One. This covers some basic information but the main focus is on your policies. You must complete Section One to be able to progress to the rest of the sections.
2) When you complete Section One you will then be sent a document with the remaining sections. Working through it in your prefered order, you will need to answer the questions and provide what evidence you feel best illustrates your response. For example, when talking about volunteer recruitment you would provide your application form or interview matrix.
Once you have completed all the sections to your satisfaction, you then return the form to WVA.
3) An assessor from WVA will discuss with you the evidence you have collated. However, this is not solely a paper-based exercise, it will involve speaking to:
- Committee/board members
- Staff (if applicable)
- Volunteers,
- Beneficiaries
- Partners / other providers (if required)
These discussions could be undertaken in a group format or one to one as appropriate to the organisation.
4) The assessor will then submit the information to a multi-agency panel made up of MHPB members for approval, this will then be signed off by the MHPB who meet on a quarterly basis.
Dependant on the size of the organisation, it should take anything from four to twelve weeks to complete the process before submission to the panel