The Safety & Quality Essentials Pathway

WNSWLHD build capability in safety improvement

Western NSW Local Health District is making continuous gains towards enhancing system capability for safety and improvement through their implementation progress of the Safety and Quality Essentials Pathway (SQEP). Increasing safety capability is one of the core outcomes of the CEC Strategic Plan and is directly linked to Strategic Outcomes 2 and 4 of the NSW Health Future Health Strategy. In 2021-2022, the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) not only progressed their own implementation of the SQEP, but they locally partnered to support Far West Local Health District and contributed to the learning and progress across NSW. Under the Executive leadership of Adrian Fahy, Emma Wirth and Alecia Marr are leading the implementation effort to identify, connect and develop a diverse faculty of safety and improvement experts who will sustainably facilitate all parts of the pathway.

Overview

State-wide, NSW Health entities have sought a consistent pathway of learning that enables a common language and capability around the shared belief that safety is everyone's business. Since 2019, the CEC has been working closely with Health Entities to develop this comprehensive curriculum of safety & quality learning, and in 2021 began implementation partnerships. WNSWLHD has been a motivated partner, both drawing from and contributing to available tools, resources and peer-network learning opportunities towards local and state-wide implementation. Examples of the state-wide implementation support resources available include: Faculty development program; state-wide Community of Practice; Foundations round table; implementation mentoring; and a SharePoint site of curriculum tools, resources and communications assets.

Contributing to state-wide success, WNSWLHD has shared their versions of Improvement Science Workshop resources with other Health Entities. A critical feature of the partnership relationship with WNSWLHD and all Health Entities has been the 90-day leadership check-ins. The check-ins are designed to ensure regular Executive connection and an open dialogue to adjust implementation goals to the changing local context and to align the relevant implementation support. The realities of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the check-ins to be highly effective at enabling momentum by regularly adjusting the partnership to meet changing needs.

The CEC Academy has valued the state-wide collaboration, and in this instance the direct partnership with WNSWLHD to enable implementation progress for the Safety & Quality Essentials Pathway. The implementation approach is focused around enabling local autonomy by: Aligning local strategy and building collective leadership; developing sustainable, diverse local faculty and implementation resources; optimising learning and sharing across Health Entities and peer networks; and aligning state-wide relationships to enable local success.

CEC expertise

"Without the support of the CEC over the last 18 months in developing and building faculty capability to deliver the Applied S&Q program, and for WNSWLHD to partner with FWLHD to have Alecia in her role full-time to implement the S&Q Essentials Pathway, the above would not have yet been achieved."

Adrian Fahy – Executive Director of Quality, Clinical Safety and Nursing

A safer system

WNSWLHD has begun the spread of Foundational modules of the Essentials Pathway. As one example of local progress, more than 5,000 WNSWLHD staff – 60% of the workforce – have watched the Six Dimensions of Healthcare Safety & Quality video aimed at developing a common understanding and common language amongst all staff.

At the Intermediate level of the pathway, they are leveraging from previous Improvement Science expertise and hosted their first two-day workshop for staff across the organisation, with a virtual Improvement Science workshop planned for rural and remote staff. WNSWLHD also initiated their first cohort of 18 participants in the Applied Safety & Quality Program, including two from FWLHD.

"All the facilitators delivered the course extremely well and kept the two days interesting."

"All facilitators were outstanding and so helpful."

"The depth of details discussed, repetition, and practice has been so instrumentally helpful."

WNSWLHD - Applied Safety & Quality - Cohort 1

Meets Future Health priorities:

  • Safe care is delivered across all settings
  • Our staff are engaged and well supported
  • The health system is managed sustainably

Meets CEC Strategic Plan priorities:

  • Embedded safety systems
  • Safety culture with accountability
  • Safety priorities and program
  • Safety intelligence

People

The CEC team:

  • Karen Patterson – Director Capability & Culture
  • Ian Richards – Senior Manager, Organisational Effectiveness
  • Sonya Bubnij – Improvement Advisor, Mental Health
  • Jacqueline Hampton – Program Lead, Leading Better Value Care
  • Genevieve Langron – Senior Project Officer
  • Melanie Donat – Quality Improvement Academy
  • Monisha Gokhale – Quality Improvement Academy.

Our Western NSW Local Health District partners:

  • Adrian Fahy – Executive Director
  • Emma Wirth – Clinical Risk Manager
  • Alecia Marr – Safety & Quality Essentials Pathway Coordinator.
Alecia Marr and Emma Wirth

Alecia Marr – Safety & Quality Essentials Pathway Coordinator, and Emma Wirth – Clinical Risk Manager.