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UKAS Lay Assessors play a crucial role in ensuring that patient experience and care are properly considered during the accreditation of healthcare services. Unlike Technical Assessors, who are specialists in their fields, Lay Assessors bring an independent perspective, evaluating healthcare settings from the viewpoint of a patient. This ensures that robust attention is paid to the quality of patient care, patient safety, and the overall comfort of the patient journey.
Accreditation is a powerful tool for driving improvement in healthcare services, ensuring that high standards of patient care are met and continuously enhanced. Through UKAS accreditation, healthcare organisations demonstrate their commitment to delivering safe, effective, and patient-centred care. We spoke to Alan Riley, who has been working as a Lay Assessor supporting the UKAS IQIPS team since 2019, to learn more about his experiences and insights into the role.
Meet Alan Riley
Alan, based in East Lancashire, had a long career in education before joining UKAS as a Lay Assessor. “I spent 33 years as a teacher, eventually working as an assistant headteacher. My background was in history and social sciences, and I was also involved in mentoring, examining, and quality assurance. After retiring, I wanted to stay engaged in meaningful work, and that’s how I came across UKAS.”
How Alan became a lay assessor
Alan’s journey into accreditation was serendipitous. “I first heard about UKAS when visiting a friend who ran a training company. When he mentioned an upcoming UKAS inspection, I initially thought he had confused it with the university admissions service! That conversation piqued my interest, so I looked into UKAS and saw they were recruiting Lay Assessors. Given my background in education, quality assurance, and assessment, I felt I had the right skill set.”
After an initial training course at UKAS, Alan began working as a Lay Assessor. His first few assessments were conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but since then, he has been actively involved in on-site assessments across various healthcare disciplines, including audiology, cardiology, and respiratory services.
Additional quality assurance experience
Alongside his work as a Lay Assessor, Alan also works as an inspection specialist for an independent body that audits exam boards across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. His role involves carrying out inspections in schools, colleges, training centres, and even prisons to ensure that exams are conducted in accordance with regulations.
“In my role inspecting exam centres, I evaluate adherence to strict standards, assessing security, procedural compliance, and accessibility. Much like my work at UKAS, this involves analysing documentation, speaking with staff, and ensuring policies are correctly implemented.”
Alan finds that many of the skills he applies in his work for the exam boards transfer seamlessly into his work as a Lay Assessor for UKAS.
“Both roles require objectivity, analytical thinking, and attention to detail. Whether I’m ensuring the security of exam papers or evaluating how a hospital communicates with patients, the key principles remain the same—assessing standards fairly and ensuring compliance to improve the overall experience for those affected.”
Training and support from UKAS
To ensure Lay Assessors are well-equipped for their role, UKAS provides comprehensive training and ongoing support. Alan recalls his initial training experience:
“I attended a two-day training session at the UKAS offices before the pandemic. The training covered everything from accreditation standards to patient-centred assessments, and I had the chance to work alongside Technical Assessors and other new Lay Assessors. The sessions were interactive, and we were assessed to make sure we understood the role and expectations.”
Since then, Alan has received continuous support from the UKAS team, particularly from the Assessment Managers he works with on-site.
“Every assessment I do, I know that the Assessment Manager is there to guide and support me. If I have any questions or need clarification, they’re always available. That level of support makes a huge difference—it ensures consistency in assessments and gives me confidence in my findings.”
Alan also speaks highly of Laura Booth, one of the Operational Specialists in the Healthcare section.
“Laura Booth has been incredibly supportive from the start. During my early assessments, she provided invaluable guidance and reassurance, ensuring I was comfortable with the process. Her knowledge, professionalism, and willingness to help have made a real difference in my experience as a Lay Assessor.”
UKAS also provides opportunities for Lay Assessors to develop their skills through refresher training and collaborative learning with other assessors, ensuring they stay up to date with evolving best practices in patient care and accreditation standards.
The role of a lay assessor
A Lay Assessor’s primary function is to evaluate healthcare services from the perspective of a patient. Alan explains:
“My job is to assess patient experience—how easy it is to access services, the clarity of information provided, the cleanliness and accessibility of facilities, and how patients are treated during their journey. I look at everything from the booking process to the waiting areas, the way staff interact with patients, and how feedback and complaints are handled.”
One of the unique aspects of the role is that Lay Assessors are not medical professionals. “Because I’m not a scientist or a clinician, I experience assessments as a patient would. That means I can provide an independent and unbiased view, which is invaluable in ensuring a healthcare setting meets high standards of patient care.”
Why lay assessors matter
The presence of Lay Assessors within an accreditation team ensures that healthcare assessments are not solely focused on technical excellence but also on the human aspects of care. Patient wellbeing is at the core of any healthcare service, and accreditation ensures that services are held to high standards of patient safety, communication, and comfort.
Alan notes:
“Doctors and scientists will always approach assessments from a clinical or technical angle. My role is to offer a fresh pair of eyes and consider things they might overlook—whether a patient understands their appointment instructions, whether waiting areas are welcoming, whether complaints processes are clear and effective. It’s about the patient journey as a whole.”
Alan’s experience highlights the vital role that Lay Assessors play in ensuring that healthcare accreditation encompasses both scientific rigour and high-quality patient care. Accreditation provides a structured and independent means of verifying that healthcare settings are consistently delivering patient-centred services, identifying areas for improvement, and ensuring best practices are upheld.
As UKAS continues to grow its team of Lay Assessors, stories like Alan’s help illustrate why this role is so valuable—and why accreditation remains an essential part of improving patient care in the UK.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a Lay Assessor for UKAS, please contact our Technical Resources team.