Quality Improvement Learning Set
The Deteriorating Patient Improvement Programme Partnership (DPIPP) was established in 2019 as a partnership between the HSE Deteriorating Patient Recognition and Response Improvement Programme (DPIP) and the HSE National Quality Improvement Team. The two teams worked together to co-design and deliver a dynamic QI programme to support hospital teams. The joint governance and delivery of the programme has proved successful – the DPIP team bring subject-matter expertise to conversations whilst National QI Team members offer tried and tested approaches to QI as a methodology to enable local improvements.
The first two sites to engage with the 2019-2020 programme include:
- Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar, Co Mayo
- Mercy University Hospital, Cork City, Co Cork
DPIPP Programme of Support
The inaugural programme of support delivered in each hospital was designed to include:
- Site visits at the hospitals to engage with the local hospital staff team and develop a bespoke programme to customise the learning set to meet their hospital needs.
- Regular teleconferences and webinars to support local hospital improvement teams.
- Coaching on the use of improvement methods to identify and implement PDSA cycles aimed at improving the quality and safety of services for acutely unwell inpatients.
- 3 progressive Learning Set days co-delivered onsite in each hospital, and tailored to the unique requirements of the hospital team. Content to include:
- presentations from national and international experts;
- interactive workshops, including live data mining and analysis; and
- training sessions to help build staff capacity and capability to deliver improvements locally.
- A final Celebration event where the hospital teams could meet to celebrate their improvement journeys and share ideas for future improvement initiatives.
In March 2020, the DPIPP programme was temporarily put on hold as staff from the National QI Team and the DPIP team were redeployed to support the HSE’s efforts in stopping the spread of COVID-19. The DPIPP team looks forward to the opportunity to re-ignite our work with the hospital teams when we can do so.
How does DPIPP differ from QI Collaboratives?
The design of DPIPP Learning Set days is similar to the Collaborative model used for PUTZ and Falls Prevention. However DPIPP differs from the PUTZ and Falls Collaboratives in that:
- Local PUTZ and Falls teams are nurse-led and made up principally of nursing and allied health professional staff. In DPIPP, similar to the Microsystems approach, a key to local success is the participation and leadership of medical and consultant staff on hospital improvement teams.
- PUTZ and Falls are delivered off-site but DPIPP is delivered onsite due to the large size of teams and difficulty in releasing staff for a day. Even with onsite delivery, it can be difficult to get many clinical staff released for a day.
- There isn’t a bundle as yet developed for DPIP whereas there are for PUTZ and Falls.
DPIPP Learning Set Days
Between October 2019 and February 2020, two Learning Set days were delivered to improvement teams at Mayo University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital Cork. Speakers and facilitators included:Mr. Chris Hancock, Acute Deterioration Programme Lead at 1,000 Lives Improvement, Public Health Wales, Dr John Fitzsimons, Clinical Director of National Quality Improvement Team and Consultant Paediatrician, Avilene Casey, National DPIP Lead and Area Director of Nursing, ONMSD and Office of the Chief Clinical Officer, National DPIP Team: Serena Brophy and Ciara Hughes, National Quality Improvement Advisors: Michael Carton, Róisín Egenton, Marie Gilligan, and Lisa Toland.
Interested in learning more?
If you are part of a hospital team that is interested in participating in the Deteriorating Patient Improvement Programme Partnership (DPIPP) please contact either:
Maria Lordan Dunphy, Assistant National Director for National QI Team
Avilene Casey, National Lead, Deteriorating Patient Improvement Programme
Additional Resources
If you are part of a hospital team interested in improving your Deteriorating Patient Recognition and Response systems, we’d encourage you to access some of these helpful resources:
- QPS Talktime (1 hour webinars)
QI Tools & Resources developed by the National QI Team
- Framework for Improving Quality in our Health Service
- Improvement Knowledge & Skills Guide
- Measurement for Improvement Videos
- Measurement for Improvement Publications