Quality Assurance
The Faculty of Pathology, RCPI launched the National QA Programme in Histopathology in June 2009. The fundamental aim of this QA Programme is to assure enhancement of patient care with timely, accurate and complete pathology diagnoses and reports. The programme vision is as follows:
Programme Vision: A patient centered Quality Assurance framework within each department, which routinely reviews performance and drives improvement, in key quality areas against intelligent targets.
To achieve this goal, the Faculty have developed and released comprehensive guidelines for the implementation of a National QA Programme in Histopathology through an appointed QA Working Group. The Faculty has recommended that each participating site develop systems to record the required data for each Quality Indicator outlined in these guidelines. The guidelines were circulated to all public, private and voluntary hospitals in Ireland providing histopathology services and were implemented in 24 Phase 1 sites at the end of 2009. The guidelines are scheduled for implementation by the remaining 12 Phase 2 sites by the end of 2010. As ICT constitutes a large component of this programme, the Faculty are working closely with HSE Information & Communication Technology (ICT), local teams and IT System Vendors to devise appropriate IT solutions for the recording, submission, analysis and reporting of QA data pertaining to the guidelines.
The Programme is recognised as a key initiative in the enhancement of patient safety and has received wide support from organisations within the healthcare sector driving the agenda of improved patient care. While led by the Faculty from a clinical perspective, the Programme is sponsored by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) and overall governance for the programme is provided by an appointed Steering Group with representation from the Faculty, NCCP, RCPI, Directorate of Quality & Clinical Care (DQCC), Independent Hospitals Association (IHA), HSE ICT, HSE Integrated Services Department (ISD) and Department of Health & Children (DOHC).
Programme Documentation
National QA Programme Guidelines
National Histopathology QA Programme Guidelines
Recommended Histopathology QA Codes
Minimum Cancer Datasets
Please find the first revision of minimum cancer datasets for Lung, Breast, Colorectal and Prostate cancers below. The Faculty currently requests comment and feedback from its Members and Fellows on these datasets. Please forward your feedback to QA Programme Executive Judy Gannon at the following email address judygannon@rcpi.ie
Lung
Breast
Colorectal
Prostate
Autopsy Evaluation Forms
Adult
Paediatric SIDS
Paediatric SB and NND
National QA Programme Information Governance Policy
Information Governance Policy
NQAIS User Agreement
QA Programme at Faculty AGM – 11 February 2011
Presentation on QA Programme from Faculty AGM
Key discussion items from Faculty AGM
Steering Group Statement on Legal Protection March 2011
QA Programme Steering Group statement on Legal protection
QA Programme Update Day - 14 September 2010
Recognition at 'Patient Safety First' Initiative Launch
DOHC Presentation on Clinical Effectivness
Further reference documentation:
HSE Risk Assessment Tool & Guidance
QA Programme Workshop: Practical Aspect - 25 October 2011
Key Discussion items from workshop
QA Programme update from Prof Kieran Sheahan
Implementation Issues and Queries from Dr Niall Swan
NQAIS - HSE ICT Update Mr Brian Dunne
Next Steps Dr Niall Swan