| Unit name | Quality Improvement in Healthcare |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MEEDM0034 |
| Credit points | 0 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Grant |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
Registration on the two linked units ie Patient Safety & Risk Management (0 credits) and the Healthcare Improvement Capstone Unit (40 credits). |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Why is the unit important?
To optimise quality improvement outcomes for healthcare organisations, students will begin with gathering information to fully understand the variances in quality improvement initiatives in their context.
Students will develop the ability to conceive the change initiatives required to address that variance, coupled with the skills and knowledge to develop and implement initiatives that are central to achieving meaningful and sustainable change.
This unit aims to enhance learners' ability to develop knowledge and skills around planning and delivering improvements in the healthcare workplace. The learners will have the opportunity to plan, develop and implement their own improvement project, which will contribute towards their Capstone project unit.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This programme is designed for individuals with an interest in pursuing a career in promotion, design and delivery of healthcare improvement initiatives. It draws from the theoretical frameworks and practice-oriented knowledge and skills from a variety of specialist subject areas that enable students to develop an in depth understanding on strategies required to establish a culture of organisational learning focussed on continued proactive improvement of healthcare delivery. Central to this approach is breaking down of an engrained silo culture and the creation of key relationships between educational and governance infrastructures.
Integral to an organisation’s governance infrastructure should be a well-functioning safety management system that contains elements that focus on gathering information on organisational performance, identifying areas for improvement. It should include elements that respond to that information and enable the organisation and its staff to continually learn and improve.
Cultivating a relationship between the information gathering elements and the response elements allows assessment of the improvement strategies developed in response have had the desired effect. This continual process allows organisations to transition into learning organisations – an organisation that continually learns and adjusts whilst delivering a service.
This unit aims to enhance learners' ability to develop knowledge and skills around planning and delivering improvements in the healthcare workplace.
An overview of content
Though the unit focusses heavily on Quality Improvement in healthcare, it explores aligned academic constructs that underpin healthcare improvement, change, and transformation. It will introduce learners to concepts of change management, psychology of change, leading change, and using storytelling as a mechanism to engage stakeholders. Though these are far beyond the basic requirements of Quality Improvement in healthcare, they are strategically important concepts for future healthcare leaders to master. Increasingly they will be called on to lead healthcare services through uncertainty of adapting to deliver services differently, more productively and innovatively.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
The unit allows students to develop a detailed understanding of the role improvement projects, in the context of healthcare, to optimise performance of an organisation.
Their deepened insights into the role, methodologies, structures, and tools used to plan and implement improvement projects within healthcare environments will enable students to affect meaningful and sustainable change that will benefit their organisation, its staff and most importantly the patients it serves.
Learning Outcomes:
A: Knowledge and Understanding:
B: Intellectual Skills /Attributes:
C: Other Skills /Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable):
Demonstrate the values to actively support quality improvement in the clinical environment.
The unit will be delivered through a mixture of self-guided study materials, real time and recorded lectures, web-based tutorials and discussions, practical activities, and your own further reading. There will be some compulsory pre-course work which will include core readings and critical analysis which the students are required to carry out. The use of the Blackboard online learning environment will be actively pursued to develop students’ understanding and engagement with the unit content.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (Formative):
1: Draft a written proposal on the implementation of a Quality Improvement project. This is then presented to tutors and the group. Student feedback given.
2: Assessment topic: Provide a critical account of how will you apply improvement tools, methodologies, and theories in your capstone project?
The 3000-word analytical report is the formative assessment of the Quality Improvement in Healthcare module. It will focus on the improvement tools and methodologies to be applied during the implementation of the Capstone Project, and a critical analysis of why these have been selected and others discounted. Students will receive formative feedback on this report and it is anticipated that this 0-credit report will contribute to elements of the Summative Capstone Report that will be submitted upon completion of Capstone Project at the end of year one.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
No summative assessment is linked to this 0 credit unit. Assessment is delivered, and credit awarded, via the Healthcare Improvement Capstone Assessment Unit. Students will be expected to build on this formative written reflection in the Assessment Unit with a summative written project.
When assessment does not go to plan:
You will receive extensive formative feedback that will both inform you of the current level of your work and provide you with detailed guidance on how to improve your performance in the Capstone Unit.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MEEDM0034).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
