The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) program is a quality improvement initiative aiming to reduce unwarranted variation and improve patient outcomes through clinician led local data review and peer discussion.
Queensland Health first committed to implementing the GIRFT program in its hospitals through the GIRFT Orthopaedics project in 2019 after the Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services identified orthopaedic care as a key priority for Queensland Health.
Following GIRFT Orthopaedics, GIRFT Emergency Surgery was initiated in 2022 and 2023 will see the launch of GIRFT Diabetes. The GIRFT program focusses on addressing system-level barriers to optimise value in specialty care for patients, clinicians, and the Queensland public health care system.
- For more information on the GIRFT Orthopaedics project, see the Getting It Right First Time Queensland - Orthopaedic State Report (PDF, 2.7MB)
- For the initiating GIRFT Diabetes dataset, see the Diabetes Data Measures Attributions List (PDF, 650kB)
The GIRFT program was developed in the United Kingdom and has achieved success in improving outcomes, reducing variation, and reducing costs across multiple specialties in the UK. Following the successes of the GIRFT Orthopaedics and Emergency Surgery projects in Queensland, Clinical Excellence Queensland is seeking to partner with interested Hospital and Health Services to implement the GIRFT methodology in diabetes.
Aims
- Achieve better patient outcomes
- Improve patient safety
- Improve the patient experience through improved quality and safety of care
- Engage and empower our most valued resource, our Queensland clinicians
- Have a clearly articulated framework in place that supports and empowers clinicians to continuously deliver and improve healthcare value in quality, safety, efficiency and patient centeredness
- Identify, highlight and address areas of clinical variation
- Identify opportunities to scale high quality, patient centred models of care
The GIRFT Queensland model is clinically led, utilising data through a process of cyclic review and quality improvement. It has five distinct phases:
- Engagement: Recruited clinical leads undertake engagement activities with specialty directors at each site
- Data analysis: Data packs are completed and analysed by clinical leads
- Site visit: The GIRFT Queensland team undertakes site visits. This involves a peer-to-peer, deep-dive review of available data to identify opportunities for improving patient outcomes and support the identification of best practice, exemplar service models of care. This is followed by an executive session to seek endorsement for recommended actions
- Report and actions: A tailored site report is compiled and disseminated to stakeholders at each site, inclusive of suggested actions for the site.
- Review: A follow up visit by the GIRFT Queensland team is conducted to facilitate a review of progress on actions and to support the evaluation of improvements.
Contact us
For information on the GIRFT program or how to get involved, please contact the Healthcare Improvement Unit:
Phone: 07 3328 9040
Email: GIRFTQld@health.qld.gov.au
