NQPSD Research

Quality and Patient Safety Research

The HSE National Quality and Patient Safety Directorate (NQPSD) have championed, supported and participated in Quality and Patient Safety (QPS) research through a variety of mechanisms including:

Commissioning research on emerging QPS issues of national priorities (see table below)
The RCQPS, co-funded (with HRB) 21 projects between 2013 and 2021 totalling €4.5 million
Conducting and publishing in-house research and evaluations of our work
Funding a PhD scholarship on measurement for improvement knowledge and skills among healthcare staff
Applying for and receiving research grants to lead on QPS research projects
Collaborating and participating as knowledge users in a variety of research projects

NQPSD Funded Research Activity

Project Title	Researchers	NQPSD Knowledge Users	Description
Development of a national quality and patient safety competency framework	Dr Aoife de Brún & Dr Dimuthu Rathnayake UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems (UCD IRIS Centre)	Dr Mary Browne QPS Education Team	This research seeks to evaluate and identify QPS competencies (knowledge and skills) to inform the development of education and training for clinical and non-clinical staff working in quality and patient safety.
QPS competencies informed by principles of Health Economics	Dr Siobhan McCarthy Graduate School of Healthcare Management, RCSI Prof Jan Sorensen Healthcare Outcomes Centre, School of Population Health, RCSI Dr James O’Mahony Centre for Health Policy and Management, TCD Dr Peter Lachman Faculty Quality Improvement, RCPI	Dr Jennifer Martin QPS Intelligence Team Dr Mary Browne QPS Education Team	The aim of this work is to identify and validate health economic competencies needed for QPS work. Through stakeholder engagement and QPS and Health economist expert feedback, this research will inform the development of the HSE QPS Competency Framework and produce online training modules.
Quality and Safety Signals – composite signal development	Prof Eilish McAuliffe & Dr. Thérѐse McDonnell UCD Interdisciplinary Centre for Research Education and Innovation in Health Systems	Dr Jennifer Martin QPS Intelligence Team	This two year research project seeks to develop a methodology which brings multiple data sources together to produce composite signals for quality and safety measurement and monitoring. The methodology will be designed and tested with the Working with the National Women’s and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP). Learn more about the project here
Learning from incidents	Dr Sam Cromie Centre for Innovative Human Systems, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin	Lorraine Schwanberg QPS Incident Management Team	The objective of the project is to help the HSE to understand the application and effectiveness of the different incident review tools, how the learning is extracted and applied and how it can be used to inform the wider HSE in terms of systematic shared learning.
Exploration of best practice in Human Factors Ergonomics implementation in healthcare	Dr Marie Ward Centre for Innovative Human Systems at Trinity College Dublin & Quality and Safety Improvement Directorate, St. James's Hospital Dr Angela O’Dea Human Factors and Simulation School of Medicine, University of Galway	Dr Mary Browne QPS Education Team	This aim of this project is to gather baseline information to inform Human Factor and implementation in Irish Health. It will define best practice in HFE implementation; develop a framework for measuring best practice; map the current HFE implementation in Irish healthcare and develop guidance on what healthcare leaders need to know in relation to next steps
The measurement of patient experience in relation to Open Disclosure	Dr Aoife de Brún UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems (UCD IRIS Centre)	Lorraine Schwanberg QPS Incident Management & Open Disclosure Team	This project aims to develop a Patient Experience Survey or other assessment tool to measure patient’s/relevant persons’ experience following the open disclosure process to be designed and implemented.