Improving patient care through the Safety, Quality, Experience programme An Overview

Bottoms up, our film about Southern Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT), shows a range of innovative work to make care better and safer for patients. Here we look in a bit more detail at how people working in the hospital were encouraged and supported to improve care as part of a wider improvement programme which aimed to transform the culture of the organisation.

In 2011, the Southern Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) set out on a journey to create a culture of quality improvement where all health and social care professionals felt supported and able to play a part in transforming patient safety, care quality and patient experience.

The Safety, Quality, Experience (SQE) training programme has been a key factor in achieving this goal. The nine-month long training programme supports people working in health and social care to deliver improvements in areas that matter to them and to patients.

During the programme, participants learn techniques for quality improvement and put their new knowledge into practice by working as part of a team, with coaching and support from mentors, to deliver an improvement that will benefit patients.

Making a difference to patient care

In our film, people who’ve taken part in the programme talk about improvements they’ve been able to make to patient care in diverse areas including the diagnosis and treatment of acute kidney injury; keeping patients safe by making sure they always have a wristband on while in hospital; and listening to the views of young people in care.

These initiatives are just a small selection of the wide-ranging improvement work that has had a positive effect on the experiences of patients, as well as their health and wellbeing. People who work at the hospital trust say that it now feels like wherever you turn, there’s always some kind of improvement project going on. Being able to make such a direct impact on patient care is rewarding for everyone involved, and the organisation places an emphasis on celebrating the achievements of project teams.

An appetite for quality improvement

Demand for the training programme has grown each year, from 50 participants in 2011, to 180 in 2015. The success of the SQE training programme has quickly spread further afield, too. Other trusts send health professionals to complete the programme and bring the learning into their own organisations, and SEHSCT has been commissioned to support a regional quality improvement training programme for social workers.

More about the projects featured in the film

• How to embed a culture of safety, quality and experience: an interview with Linda Kelly
• Learning the ABCDE of acute kidney injury
• Giving children in care a voice in decision making
• Promoting financial independence for people with complex mental health needs
• Making sure every patient has a wristband while in hospital

Contact details

For more information, contact Linda Kelly, Assistant Director for Safe and Effective Care.