TALK WITH AMAYA CABALLERO, DIRECTOR OF THE QUALITY DEPARTMENT
CHAT WITH| AMAYA CABALLERO
Amaya Caballero Sagardía, 38 years old, has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Valladolid, having subsequently completed the Higher Course in Business Intelligence (2008) and the Master's Degree in General Management and Strategic Planning (2011). After seven years in consulting and computer services companies, in 2005 he joined Fraternidad-Muprespa. Her career at Mutua has covered topics as different as Inventory or Fraterdata, until in February 2011 she was appointed director of the Quality Department.
Director of the Quality Department
F.M.: Achieving an organizational culture based on excellence and quality is the challenge of the department you direct. Could you briefly tell us the guidelines that have been designed for this.
ACS: Although it may seem like I'm ignoring the problem, I believe that in order for us to offer a quality service that seeks excellence, the first thing is that each of us does our job with that "philosophy." Starting from this base, the main guideline will be to listen to the needs of our clients (in all areas: patients, companies, collaborators, self-employed,...) and seek continuous improvement.
F.M.: The concept of quality is very present in all areas. From the perspective of the mutual company, what are the most critical points or those that require the greatest effort?
ACS: This question does not have a simple answer or I do not consider myself qualified to answer it because I do not know the entire business and my vision, from a table and chair in Central Services, has nothing to do with the day-to-day life of the care centers or the Hospital. In recent months I have been lucky enough to be able to work for a few hours in different centers and, in those days, I have realized that each center has its strengths and its points of improvement. And generalization is never good, so I can't comment on those critical points. Now, quality and the implementation of a quality system help to analyze aspects in which perhaps we had not previously investigated in depth... and that can only lead us to improve.
F.M.: Are we aware of quality?
ACS: I think we are harder on ourselves than our main clients at the centers, the patients, are. Now, we never have to stop putting ourselves in the other's shoes (whether external or internal client) and trying to provide the best service. And, little by little, that sensitivity will increase.
F.M.: Burgos and Vitoria have obtained AENOR 9001 and 14001 certificates. Will there be more centers?
ACS: It better be yes or I wouldn't meet the expectations that the Manager placed in me... Burgos and Vitoria have been two pilot centers and right now quite a few centers are implementing ISO 9001. Now, the first thing to keep in mind is that the certification and its maintenance... is for life; That is to say, it is a long-term project and what is really important is that each center improves little by little. Certification is official recognition, the icing on the cake, but not the most important thing… at least in my opinion.
F.M.: Tell us about the environment, what are the objectives?
ACS: The environmental objectives can be divided into two blocks. The first is the one that depends on all of us: being responsible with the environment and applying the same guidelines that we apply in our homes in our workplaces; that is, waste segregation, responsible resource consumption, etc. The second block has to do with environmental certification, ISO 14001; Here the difficulty lies in the demand for legal requirements and their compliance. Therefore, the pace of certification of centers in environmental matters will be little by little, I estimate 3 or 4 centers a year.
I am going to give an example for illustrative purposes that came to light in the certification of the center of Burgos: its activity license indicates that it will comply with the municipal noise ordinance of Burgos... well, we had not seen that detail and a noise measurement had to be carried out to see if it was complied with or not. And for those who do not know Burgos or the location of the center, it is located in one of the arteries of the city, where the traffic makes much more noise than our activity.
F.M.: The commitment to policies and measures that favor the environment are recent. Do we get involved in them or are we reticent?
ACS: We are getting involved in them in various ways, I have no doubt. For example, the Purchasing and Services Department increasingly includes in more contracts aspects to be assessed based on the environmental behavior of the suppliers or the products it purchases; In some centers, managers are hired to remove waste such as batteries, paper, fluorescent lights,... in addition, logically, to biosanitary waste, which is not even questioned. And if you don't have those managers, it is the center's own staff who bring it to a clean point.
F.M.: Quality and environment, two values that impact the organization, interest groups and society. What is the most difficult thing when working with subjectivities?
ACS: Reconcile everyone's interests, but that is independent of whether we are talking about quality and the environment or any other topic.
F.M.: Will we be a vanguard in quality and environmental commitment?
ACS: We have to keep in mind that other mutual insurance companies are years ahead of us by having their entire network of healthcare centers and/or different services in their hospitals certified. Now, we are taking small steps and I trust that they will not stop. And I cannot end this interview without talking about OHSAS, the occupational health and safety management system. The Prevention Service is working hard on the implementation of this management system in the centers of Cánovas, San Agustín, Alcobendas and Cervantes, with the aim of certifying it at the end of this year. For 2014 it also has its challenges... bringing it to a few centers in the network. As I say, small steps that do and will bear fruit with the effort and collaboration of all the Mutua staff.
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