Monday 25 July 2022 | 11:20-12:20

Stream: Building Capability and Leadership
Format: Workshop
Content filters: tbc

(Part One): How can healthcare organisations sustainably build capacity in quality improvement?

Capability building in QI is a prerequisite for high functioning health systems. But how can it be sustained over a period of years? The Southern Adelaide Local Health Network Department of Surgery and Perioperative Medicine runs an internally developed capability and support program known as the Continuous Improvement Program (CIP). What is unusual, is the length of time (15?years) that the CIP has been in place. This means the CIP has had time to evolve and foster a continuous support infrastructure, experienced personnel, and corporate memory. We evaluated the key features of what makes QI sustainable.

Peter Hibbert, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University; Australia

Rob Padbury, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network; Australia

(Part Two): How can we achieve and sustain improvement in care & outcomes at scale?There is a growing number of healthcare leaders and teams utilising improvement science to effective positive changes for patients. However such efforts are often undertaken in siloes by individual clinical teams or hospitals, with limited capacity to achieve change for the benefit of all patients. Many improvement leaders also express frustration about being unable to sustain improvement over time once a change champion moves on or new priorities emerge.

So how do we achieve lasting improvement at scale? How do we co-ordinate and build upon the efforts of local change champions to spread the benefits of improvement equitably and widely?

This session provides two perspectives on this key question. Barb Vernon is a not-for-profit leader in the women’s & children’s healthcare sectors with two decades of experience in working to improve care and outcomes across Australia. Rebecca Reed is the leader of a government initiative at Safer Care Victoria aiming to positively impact on 100,000 lives through improvement programs affecting a range of healthcare consumers. The presenters will tease out critical factors to successfully achieving – and sustaining – measurable improvements in patient care and outcomes.

Barb Vernon, Women’s & Children’s Healthcare Australasia; Australia

Rebecca Reed, Safer Care Victoria; Australia