Quest Prime has been developed in recognition of the upheaval Covid-19 has brought to the sector during 2020 and will focus on business recovery, aiming to assist operators in demonstrating they have robust covid-19 control measures in place for both customers and stakeholders.

Caroline Constantine is Managing Director of health and safety and quality management specialist, Right Directions, which has managed Quest on behalf of Sport England for 10 years.  As Quest’s Director she says: “In the present climate, leisure centres don’t want an improvement tool; they’re busy trying to get their businesses back on track. Alongside Sport England, we have considered the situation and adapted Quest to suit the current needs of the industry.”

“Quest Prime has been written especially to support leisure centres over the next 12 months; adding value to their business by helping them to demonstrate their centres have sufficient processes and procedures in place to minimize the risk of  transmission of Covid-19 within their buildings. Modules cover general pandemic management, as well as approaches to engaging with customers who are not using the facilities. Centres may have less staff at the moment. In fact, the whole building might not be fully operational, so this more practical assessment should be more valuable during this difficult time.

“Pilot centres that have completed a Quest Prime assessment welcomed the external assessor reviewing their procedures and witnessing their customer facing control measures, saying, up until that point, they had no benchmark as to whether they were on the right track, and that the importance of a professional visiting their centres could not be under estimated.”

There are two levels: Quest Prime will include a mystery visit and a one-day assessment, conducted against seven Prime core modules, including Community Engagement, Programming, Cleaning and Hygiene and Operational Management. While Quest Prime Plus will include a mystery visit and a two-day assessment; against the seven Prime core modules on day one and five choice modules on day two, including Engaging with Disabled People and People with Long Term Health Conditions, and Learn to Swim Accreditation.

The new assessment is likely to run alongside Quest Entry, Quest Plus and Quest Stretch until October 2021. However, current Quest accredited sites can postpone their next assessment for up to three months and there will be no unannounced reviews until September 2021.