Embedding a culture of quality improvement in a regional paediatric and neonatal department

Embedding a quality improvement culture improves overall care, service delivery and organisational culture and has even been shown to be associated with increased survival in neonates. The Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service paediatric and neonatal departments have implemented and grown a culture of quality improvement (QI) through two major activities. The first of these is a dedicated Senior Medical Officer (SMO) QI lead who encourages, organises and promotes trainee doctors involvement in SMO led quality improvement projects as part of their training. Embedding trainee doctors into quality improvement activities as a mandatory part of their rotation promotes a culture of quality improvement at an early stage in their career, provides leadership and mentoring around implementation of quality improvement activities, provides opportunities for junior doctors to work on interdisciplinary projects with specialists from other disciplines such as allied health and nursing staff, and provides resources for the SMO group to utilise when working on their own quality improvement projects. SMO leadership and mandatory participation in quality improvement activities provides our departments with a valuable ‘in built’ resource for developing quality improvement projects that result from clinical incidents, risks or staff care quality observations.

The second activity has been the implementation of the annual SCHHS paediatric and neonatal quality improvement showcase day. The QI showcase day has grown since 2021 from a small departmental meeting to a health service wide showcase of quality improvement and research being done in the areas of paediatric and neonatal medicine. Attendance at the QI showcase day has enabled staff education, discussion, and participation regarding current departmental projects. It gives a chance for trainee doctors and other presenters to present their projects to a wide audience, and enables discussion and feedback on the projects and presentations.