Q Exchange
Q-LINK: a Quality & Safety Learning, Sharing and Networking App
- Proposal
- 2024
Meet the team
Also:
- Emily Frisby - Digital Learning Facilitator - QPS Education, Health Service Executive
- Stephanie Horan - Project Manager
What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to the theme of 'How can we improve across system boundaries?
Sustaining quality and patient safety is a global health priority. To ensure that everyone involved in healthcare feels confident in this area, they must be able to clearly and easily identify and develop the required QPS competencies.
Following an extensive global literature review and through a co-design process with multiple stakeholders, we have developed an evidenced based quality and patient safety competency framework with suggested learning and development resources. This draft framework has been widely welcomed by test groups as a useful learning and development tool.
Feedback suggests however that it must be easily accessible and flexible to use at the point of need. Feedback also suggests that learning through mobile apps, web-based platforms or combined mobile learning environments has gained prominence in supporting learning experiences due to their availability and accessibility anytime, anywhere and recent evidence supports this trend.
What does your project aim to achieve?
This project aims to develop a low-complexity, accessible, engaging and easy to navigate mobile and desktop app to a diverse group including healthcare staff, patient partners and students. The app will support them to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they require to deliver world class quality, safe care tailored to the needs of patients/service users.
This project also aims to improve the adoption of the Quality and Patient Safety Competency Framework through the user-friendly app being accessible by the following:
Higher Institutes of Education – by informing the development of health and social care curricula at under and post graduate level.
Human Resources – by supporting the development of job descriptions and aiding the effective recruitment and induction of healthcare staff.
Healthcare educators – by supporting the design of learning outcomes for quality and patient safety programmes of learning.
Healthcare leaders – by supporting induction, training and annual professional development planning of staff.
How will the project be delivered?
1. Project initiation.
Project team: Consisting of experienced digital instructional design staff. Stakeholder mapping will identify other key stakeholders.
Project Charter: covering governance, GDPR & data security.
Advisory Group: providing oversight and advice on design and implementation.
2. Project planning.
Procurement process: select the services of an app development and hosting provider.
Scoping workshop to develop an outline of app requirements.
Design of app wireframe, development of content.
App development using existing platforms (eg. ByteKast)
3. Project execution
Test Focus Groups Identified (staff, leaders, patient partners, students)
Using improvement methodology and PDSAs with test groups, we will evaluate and provide feedback to App developer.
Pilot in 2 x Regional Health Areas
Evaluation Update
Mobile App Launch – communication plan.
Monthly reporting of stats on no. of users
Feedback from user groups
4. Project Close & Sustainability
Roll out to remaining Regional Health areas
Annual user evaluation survey, review and update of content in line with QPS competency framework
How is your project going to share learning?
The knowledge and experience gained from designing, developing and evaluating a mobile learning app for QPS competency development will be disseminated through scientific publications and various media resources including Q-Community channels and special interest groups.
The mobile app we develop will be published on a hosting platform that will be accessible by all Q members via multi-user licence.
The content will be based on a literature review of international competency frameworks and input from an extensive co-design group and will therefore be transferrable across multiple system and geographical boundaries including the UK and Ireland.
The collaboration function of the app will allow Q members upload their own examples of practical ways to develop competencies and will have a live chat function and discussion board.
Additionally, this project aims to systematically evaluate the implementation of the app using improvement method research which will be shared with Q.
How you can contribute
- Share your expertise – do you have expertise in the development of mobile apps to support learning and development and would be in a position to support us?
- Share your experience – have you developed a mobile app and could share your experience in relation to the challenges we might face?
- Collaborate with us – would you be interested in testing this mobile app for us as a staff member, patient partner, student or educator?
- Advise us – would you be interested in joining our advisory group?
- Support us – do you know of any other similar projects or people that we should connect with?
Plan timeline
| 8 Jul 2024 | Establish project team, meeting schedule and conduct stakeholder mapping exercise. |
|---|---|
| 15 Jul 2024 | Complete Project Charter outlining governance, GDPR, data security requirements. |
| 22 Jul 2024 | Establish Advisory Group, with TORs & regular meeting schedule |
| 29 Jul 2024 | Issue Request For Tender (RFT) for App developer |
| 30 Aug 2024 | Contract awarded to App developer |
| 20 Sep 2024 | Scoping workshop with App Developer and key stakeholders |
| 4 Oct 2024 | Design of app wireframes, map app content & development |
| 11 Oct 2024 | App development including push notifications, calendar and live chat functions. |
| 18 Oct 2024 | Test groups recruited. (staff, patient partners, students, educators) |
| 9 Jan 2025 | Testing Evaluation Report published |
| 20 Feb 2025 | Engagement and information sessions with pilot site |
| 18 Mar 2025 | Official App deployment (Test - Alpha) & commencement of 12 month pilot |
| 1 May 2025 | Completion of six -month App Pilot in 2 Regional Health Areas |
| 30 Jul 2025 | Celebration Event & Workshop, share learning and experience |
| 1 Sep 2025 | Official launch of mobile app – communication & social media plan |
| 4 Sep 2025 | Midpoint review, evaluation with questionnaires & focus groups |
| 11 Sep 2025 | Agree prioritised enhancements to app based on midpoint review / budget |
| 25 Sep 2025 | Feedback to test groups (Test -beta) |
| 3 Nov 2025 | Identification of 2 x pilot sites (Regional Health Areas) |
| 1 Jun 2026 | Final evaluation of pilot undertaken, using qualitative & quantitative data |
| 1 Sep 2026 | Sustainability Plan Agreed by National Director QPS |
Comments
Sinead Creedon 19 Mar 2024
Q-Link is a wonderful project idea and will no doubt address challenges in relation to a host of issues such as Human Factors.
I am particularly interested from a Higher Institutes of Education perspective. Having previously worked in the HSE, I now work in UCC and teach a level 9 module on quality patient safety which is part of our PG Certificate and MSc in Infection Prevention & Control.
I was also the clinical manager of a large multinational wellness centre in Cork where I was involved in key digital projects in relation to patient care and safety. If your project team think I could be of any help whatsoever, please feel free to reach out.
Best of luck!
Veronica Hanlon 19 Mar 2024
Many thanks for your feedback Sinead and yes human factors will be a key topic area in the competency framework itself. If we are successful in our bid, then we most definitely will reach out to you and it would be great if you were willing to work with us in the co-design and testing of the app.
Fingers crossed!
Marie Byrne 16 Mar 2024
Very good idea and I wish you well with it.
Digital Network UK is a good example of a forum that works well for knowledge sharing. However when extended to Ireland it wasn't used extensively. Ensure that the upkeep is resourced.
Good idea to have a communications plan but cascading should happen in line with structures to be put in place for Health areas etc
There is an All Ireland Digital Capability Framework which might be useful to review and speak to some of us who were involved in developing it.
Digital implementations are quality improvement initiatives enabled by digital with significant patient safety considerations so should ideally be linked in to QPS. Just to consider for testing, content, comms, competency.
I would be willing to be a tester.
I hope that helps.
Kind regards,
Marie
Veronica Hanlon 19 Mar 2024
Thanks so much Marie, if we are successful we will certainly be in touch especially around the All Ireland Digital Capability Framework and if you were willing to be a tester that would be great too.
Much appreciated!
Maureen Flynn 5 Mar 2024
I love this project idea. There is great potential to connect people who provide and access services from across the breath of health and social care in learning and and growing their competences for QPS. The good think is that the app will bring people together and has no boundaries. The level of thought and engagement in the submission is very evident from the Video clip thank you for including this.
Veronica Hanlon 8 Mar 2024
Many thanks for your feedback Maureen, we'd hope that the framework will be of benefit to your nursing and midwifery education colleagues but also to front line nurses and midwives. If successful, we would be keen to test the mobile app with frontline staff and any help you could give us then would be much appreciated.
Angela Carey 4 Mar 2024
I think this is a brilliant idea! It brings Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, etc. to everyone involved in healthcare, and helps everyone to identify what knowledge they should have as part of their role. It will be excellent for helping to identify gaps in their knowledge and identifying areas of learning that staff may not be aware of. The app will be very useful as staff can't always access PCs or laptops, whereas almost everyone has a phone. I'll be keeping a watch for this with great interest. Best of luck with it!
Veronica Hanlon 4 Mar 2024
Thanks so much for the feedback Angela. it's great to hear from someone working in the services who can see the need and benefit for such an app. Fingers crossed we get shortlisted and we'll keep you posted.
Sid Beech 4 Mar 2024
Great idea! As Martin said above - i'm keen to hear how it goes with the co-creation of a mobile app - lots of learning that many would be interested in. Good luck
Veronica Hanlon 4 Mar 2024
Thanks Sid, if successful, we will certainly keep you posted on how we get on. This is our first time developing an App so I'm sure there will be lots of learning that we can share.
Martin Hogan 4 Mar 2024
What a lovely idea Veronica. I'd love to hear how things go with the creation of the APP - we're interested in that for a project we are running around professional advocates - so please keep me in the loop :)
Veronica Hanlon 4 Mar 2024
Thanks Martin, if successful, we will certainly keep you posted on how we get on. This is our first time developing an App so I'm sure there will be lots of learning that we can share. We are also considering integrating an assessment tool into the app if that's possible, so that might be something that would benefit your Professional Advocates in identifying their own areas for development. Will keep you posted.
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