Quality and Safety in European Union Hospitals: A Research-based Guide for Implementing Best Practice and a Framework for Assessing Performance (QUASER)

Project summary

Objective

The overall aim of the three year QUASER study is to explore the relationships between the organisational and cultural characteristics of hospitals, and how these impact upon clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience in European Union countries.

QUASER is led overall by King's Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, and CPSSQ is leading on two work packages (WPs) within the wider project  - a scoping review of the literature (WP2) and a series of detailed hospital case studies (WP4).

Research design and conceptual framework

The QUASER study has four major features:

• It is a multi-level (macro, meso and micro-system), longitudinal comparative study.
• It has a definition of ‘quality of hospital care’ comprising three components: clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience.
• It builds on a conceptualisation of quality as both a human, social and organisational accomplishment (as well as a technical one).

• It has an emphasis on translational research that is evidence-based.

Overall aims

This qualitative study will focus on delivering relevant and useful products to hospital leaders and purchasers of services based on the day-to-day realities of leading and implementing quality improvement programmes.

Main research outputs

• To design and disseminate a Quality and Safety Guide for Hospitals - an evidence based guide to assist hospitals throughout the EU to implement effective organisation-wide quality improvement and safety programmes.
• To compile and disseminate the Framework for Assessing Hospital Quality – an evidence based framework by which purchasers of hospital services and national and local governments throughout the EU can monitor and assess the effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience of hospital care.
• In addition, and crucially, the development of the research out¬puts will be tested within a wider stakeholder group of hospitals and payers across Europe thrugh a parallel process of translational workshops.

Setting

Project period 2010-2013. National (macro) level and ten hospitals (meso level and micro-systems) in England, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the Netherlands.