Lancet Commission Report, 2019
The frontline healthcare worker is the only actor who knows what is really happening with the patient.
The frontline perspective is where the action happens. The health worker is the driver of systems thinking for contextually relevant, quality improvement in outcomes and patient-centered care.
Frontline health worker quality improvement happens when peers are working in cross-disciplinary teams, looking at real-time data, testing change ideas and creating feedback loops while co-producing new knowledge.
Working at the frontline democratises the health workers agency for change; it’s a bottom-up organic initiative versus top-down, siloed responses.
Frontline-led QI is a paradigm shift. We know what to do, but we don’t know how to do it consistently, excellently and at scale.
QI is the engine that drives SSA towards an implementation science strategy of change at the granular, frontline level where it meets the patients’ needs in real-time.
QI is implementation science leveraging evidence-based practice. At the center are feedback loops that allow for real time learning, accountability and measurable change – where data drives decision making at the frontline.
Around 1 in every 10 patients is harmed in health care and more than 3 million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care. In low-to-middle-income countries, as many as 4 in 100 people die from unsafe care.
Above 50% of harm (1 in every 20 patients) is preventable; half of this harm is attributed to medications.
Some estimates suggest that as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and ambulatory settings, while up to 80% (23.6–85%) of this harm can be avoided.
Three in every five preventable deaths are due to poor quality of care at health facilities in low-and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When a surgery leads to infection, antibiotics are overprescribed, or diabetic drugs are not used at the proper dose, and patients suffer.
Weak systems and processes are at fault in many of these healthcare institutions rather than the absence of trained healthcare workers, guidelines, and policies.
Building systems that efficiently and effectively deliver quality care is possible, but it must start at the frontline giving healthcare workers training in the science of quality improvement so that they can drive positive system changes right, where it matters most, at the bedside of the patient.
Three in every five preventable deaths are due to poor quality of care at health facilities in low-and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When a surgery leads to infection, antibiotics are overprescribed, or diabetic drugs are not used at the proper dose, and patients suffer.
Weak systems and processes are at fault in many of these healthcare institutions rather than the absence of trained healthcare workers, guidelines, and policies.
Building systems that efficiently and effectively deliver quality care is possible, but it must start at the frontline giving healthcare workers training in the science of quality improvement so that they can drive positive system changes right, where it matters most, at the bedside of the patient.
Building Quality Improvement into Africa’s Health System Agenda
DATE/TIME: July 18 to 19, 2024 9 am-4 pm | Nairobi, Kenya
ACQUIRE celebrated frontline healthcare champions in Sub-Saharan Africa, showing their dedication to transformative quality improvement during a webinar that inspired the entire healthcare community.
While uniting in our shared commitment to improve patient safety, especially as we observe this year’s World Patient Safety Day,
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The ACQUIRE QI Leadership Forum, held on July 18-19, 2024, garnered significant media attention, highlighting its profound impact on the
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The running joke is that healthcare workers’ handwriting is so bad it should come with its translation service. While we laugh about it, there’s an irony here—those entrusted with healthcare should be the clearest communicators. Yet, communication breakdowns are one
While uniting in our shared commitment to improve patient safety, especially as we observe this year’s World Patient Safety Day, the Quality Improvement & Patient Experience Working Group of the ACQUIRE African Community of Practice, held an inaugural webinar discussing
By Dr Lydia Okutoyi Even though erring is human, no patient should be harmed when visiting a hospital or a clinic to seek medical treatment. Available global data shows that 1 in every 10 patients is harmed in healthcare and more
By Dr. Mary Adam and Dr. Jackline Oluoch Aridi Last month the curtains came down on the inaugural African Consortium for Quality Improvement in Frontline Healthcare Research (ACQUIRE)’s Leadership Forum in Nairobi. Themed ‘Building Quality Improvement into Africa’s Health System