Healthcare Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Quality Improvement Leads, Patient Safety Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HQ-019

Before you join: Participants should understand how their service delivers care and have experience of at least one clinical, operational or support process.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Healthcare providers face persistent pressure to reduce avoidable harm, improve reliability and demonstrate that care meets patient needs. Problems such as medication omissions, delayed escalation, falls, diagnostic delays, healthcare-associated infections and poor handovers rarely have one cause. They arise from process variation, unclear responsibilities, weak information flows and systems that make the safe action difficult. Quality improvement gives teams a disciplined way to define these problems, measure them and test changes without relying on opinion alone.

This course teaches participants how to improve care processes and strengthen patient safety using established quality improvement methods. Participants learn to define an improvement aim, map a patient pathway, select outcome, process and balancing measures, interpret run charts and use the Model for Improvement with Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. The programme also covers incident reporting, just culture, root cause analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, human factors, clinical audit and sustained control of improved processes.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with healthcare cases, facilitated group analysis, process-mapping work, measurement interpretation and structured simulations. Cases reflect settings such as acute hospitals, primary care, community services, social care, mental health and outpatient services. Participants develop a practical improvement project pack containing an aim statement, stakeholder analysis, process map, measurement plan, risk analysis and implementation plan for a live or proposed workplace issue.

The course suits professionals who contribute to care quality, clinical governance, patient safety, service improvement or operational management. It is especially useful for staff asked to lead a local improvement project, support a safety investigation or turn audit and incident data into focused action.

What you will be able to do

  • Define a measurable healthcare improvement aim using the Model for Improvement
  • Map a patient-care process and identify failure points, delays and handoff risks
  • Design outcome, process and balancing measures for a quality improvement project
  • Interpret run charts and statistical process control signals to judge process change
  • Test service changes through structured Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
  • Conduct a root cause analysis using event timelines and contributory-factor analysis
  • Apply failure mode and effects analysis to prioritise patient safety risks
  • Produce an implementation and sustainment plan for a local improvement project

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Confidence to frame safety concerns as measurable improvement opportunities
  • Ability to lead local Plan-Do-Study-Act testing with clinical teams
  • Stronger contribution to incident reviews and corrective-action planning
  • Practical evidence for quality, governance or leadership responsibilities
  • A reusable project pack for a workplace improvement priority

For your organisation

  • More consistent use of evidence-based quality improvement methods
  • Better designed projects with clear measures and accountable ownership
  • Earlier identification of process failures affecting patient safety
  • Stronger learning from incidents, audits and patient feedback
  • Improved capability to sustain changes after initial implementation

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish quality improvement from assurance, audit and research, and define a focused improvement opportunity.

  • Healthcare quality dimensions: safety, effectiveness, experience, equity, timeliness and efficiency
  • Donabedian structure, process and outcome measures for care quality
  • Quality improvement, clinical audit, research and assurance distinguished clearly
  • The Model for Improvement: aims, measures and change ideas
  • SMART aims linked to defined patient populations and care processes
  • Problem statements built from observed gaps, evidence and service impact

Participants can assess how safety culture, human factors and reporting systems influence patient harm.

  • Patient safety incidents, near misses and no-harm events classified
  • Just culture principles separating human error, risk-taking and reckless behaviour
  • Psychological safety and speaking-up practices within multidisciplinary clinical teams
  • Human factors: workload, interruptions, fatigue, design and cognitive bias
  • Swiss Cheese Model applied to barriers, hazards and defences
  • Incident reporting systems as sources for learning, not blame

Participants can map a care process, identify variation and locate patient safety risks.

  • SIPOC diagrams defining suppliers, inputs, process steps, outputs and customers
  • Patient journey mapping from referral through discharge and follow-up
  • Swimlane flowcharts showing handoffs between clinical and administrative roles
  • Value stream mapping identifies waits, rework, queues and non-value activities
  • Process observation records workarounds, interruptions and informal decision points
  • Failure points prioritised by patient harm, frequency and detectability

Participants can create a practical measurement plan using valid outcome, process and balancing measures.

  • Outcome measures track patient results, harm rates and service performance
  • Process measures test whether critical care steps occur reliably
  • Balancing measures detect unintended consequences of implemented changes
  • Operational definitions specify numerator, denominator, source and collection frequency
  • Baseline data establishes current performance before change testing begins
  • Sampling plans balance data burden with useful decision-making evidence

Participants can interpret time-series data and distinguish common-cause from special-cause variation.

  • Run charts display performance over time against a median
  • Non-random run chart rules identify signals requiring investigation
  • Statistical process control charts separate common-cause and special-cause variation
  • Control limits interpreted without confusing them with specification limits
  • Stratification exposes differences by ward, shift, pathway or patient group
  • Data visualisation presents improvement results clearly to clinical stakeholders

Participants can plan and run small-scale tests of change using documented PDSA cycles.

  • Change ideas generated from evidence, frontline knowledge and patient feedback
  • PDSA cycles specify predictions, test conditions, data and review dates
  • Small tests reduce risk before wider implementation decisions
  • Sequential testing adapts interventions across people, places and time
  • PDSA documentation captures learning, results and next-cycle decisions
  • Implementation readiness assessed before moving from testing to standard work

Participants can investigate a patient safety incident and develop actions that address contributing conditions.

  • Immediate response protects patients, preserves evidence and supports affected staff
  • Event timelines reconstruct actions, decisions, conditions and escalation points
  • Five Whys probes causal pathways without assigning individual blame
  • Fishbone diagrams organise contributory factors across people, process and equipment
  • Root cause analysis distinguishes active failures from latent system conditions
  • Corrective actions ranked by strength, ownership, due dates and verification

Participants can use failure mode and effects analysis to prevent harm before a process fails.

  • FMEA scope defines a high-risk process, boundaries and intended users
  • Process steps examined for credible failure modes and effects
  • Severity, occurrence and detection ratings support risk prioritisation
  • Risk priority numbers guide attention while clinical judgement remains essential
  • Controls redesigned through forcing functions, standardisation and independent checks
  • Residual risk reviewed after controls are assigned and implemented

Participants can involve patients, frontline staff and leaders in an improvement effort with clear roles.

  • Stakeholder analysis identifies influence, interest, concerns and required contributions
  • Patient and family experience informs priorities, measures and change ideas
  • Co-design sessions gather practical insight from service users and staff
  • Multidisciplinary improvement teams define roles, decision rights and meeting cadence
  • Communication plans match messages to executives, clinicians and frontline teams
  • Resistance explored through concerns, evidence, local context and participation

Participants can produce an implementation plan that embeds, monitors and reviews an improved care process.

  • Driver diagrams connect improvement aims with primary and secondary drivers
  • Implementation plans define actions, owners, dependencies, milestones and resources
  • Standard work documents critical steps, escalation rules and responsibilities
  • Training and competency checks support reliable adoption of revised processes
  • Control plans assign measures, review frequency, thresholds and response actions
  • Ninety-day application plans set priorities, early tests and governance reviews

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Model for Improvement project charter
  2. Patient pathway process-map template
  3. Outcome, process and balancing-measure plan
  4. PDSA cycle documentation template
  5. Root cause analysis investigation checklist
  6. Ninety-day implementation and control plan

Who should attend

  • Quality Improvement Leads — need disciplined methods for delivering measurable service change
  • Patient Safety Managers — need structured approaches to incident learning and risk reduction
  • Clinical Managers — need to improve care reliability while managing operational pressures
  • Nurses and Allied Health Professionals — need to lead local safety and care-process improvements
  • Clinical Governance Staff — need to connect audit, incidents and assurance reporting
  • Healthcare Operations Managers — need to reduce delays, variation and avoidable waste

Skills and tools covered

Quality improvement designPatient safety analysisClinical process mappingHealthcare measurementIncident investigationChange sustainment

Tools and standards

Model for Improvement, Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, Root Cause Analysis, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by healthcare case work, facilitated group analysis and practical application. Participants examine incidents, process maps, audit findings and performance data drawn from realistic care settings. Simulations build confidence with PDSA cycles, root cause analysis and risk prioritisation. Group discussions test how methods must be adapted for clinical governance, multidisciplinary teams and patient involvement. Each participant develops an application plan around a relevant service issue, with instructor feedback on scope, measures and implementation risks.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand how their service delivers care and have experience of at least one clinical, operational or support process. Familiarity with local incident reporting, audit, performance data or clinical governance arrangements is helpful, but not essential. Participants will benefit most if they can identify a real quality or patient safety issue from their workplace. No previous formal training in quality improvement, statistics, Lean, project management or patient safety investigation is required. The course does not require advanced mathematics, clinical registration or responsibility for a large-scale transformation programme.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand a healthcare or social care service and be familiar with the type of work performed in your area. No previous quality improvement, Lean, statistics or formal patient safety training is required.

Bring details of a real service issue, audit finding, incident theme or care-process concern if you have one. Participants can work with a provided case if workplace information cannot be shared.

It is suited to clinical and non-clinical staff who contribute to patient safety, quality, governance, operations or service improvement. It is appropriate for staff leading a local project and managers sponsoring improvement work.

This course focuses on healthcare quality and patient safety methods, including incident learning, clinical measurement, PDSA testing and risk analysis. Lean and project management may support improvement work, but they are not the central focus.

You will leave with a structured project pack that can be adapted to a local concern such as delayed observations, medication safety or discharge reliability. The methods can be used in ward, clinic, community, social care and support-service settings.

The programme provides approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, healthcare cases, group analysis, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com