The process Improvement department is part of the Quality safety and Risk management Directorate in the Hospital. It’s mission is “To facilitate the delivery of education and support across the hospital to enable staff deliver visible and measurable results (patients, staff, money) through the application of the most appropriate rigorous process improvement methodologies”.
The department was set up in 2005 but we have been working on continuous improvement since our hospital opened in 1998. Tallaght University Hospital was the first in Ireland to introduce Six Sigma (2001) and Lean tools (2008) for improving our processes both clinical and non- clinical. Over the years a large number of projects have been completed by staff at the frontline improving how they work on a continuous basis. We have also looked at organisational processes which needed improving and these are managed by more experienced project managers with coaching provided by the Quality Improvement Lead. We have now developed our own Model for Improvement with an integrated project management methodology to ensure implementation. Training courses are provided internally three times a year with sponsorship provided by senior management.
We also facilitate the implementation of the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare which were launched in 2012 by the health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). These standards provide a framework for services to organise, manage and deliver safe and sustainable healthcare. The Hospital has a central repository for all Policies, Procedures, Protocols and Guidelines which are viewed on line. Training is provided to develop documents and there are standard templates for this purpose.
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