Introduction to EQUIPS
EQUIPS is the Evidence-Based Quality and Patient Safety Research Network in Ireland. This network is co-funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and HSE National Quality and Patient Safety (NQPS).
EQUIPS Aims
The aim of EQUIPS is to coordinate and accelerate Quality and Patient Safety (QPS) research in Ireland, by meeting the following objectives:
- Co-produce QPS research priorities and strategies
- Build a vibrant and robust QPS research community
- Make QPS research everyday practice
- Contribute to better, safer care
EQUIPS aims to bring together three types of stakeholders:
- Healthcare staff and knowledge users
- Patient and public partners
- Academics working in universities
The work of EQUIPS is supported and informed by a Steering Group, International Advisory Group, and Patient Partner Advisory Group.
Read more about these roles, the member benefits, and how you can get involved on the Get involved page. Short on time? Sign up to our mailing list to receive updates.
Structure and Funding
The Network is co-funded by the Health Research Board and HSE National Quality and Patient Safety. Together, 40 co-applicants and collaborators representing 7 academic institutions, and areas of healthcare designed the structure and scope of the network.
The Principal Investigator for EQUIPS is Prof Sam Cromie based in the Centre for Innovative Human Systems at Trinity College Dublin. The Lead Knowledge User is Dr Orla Healy, National Clinical Director for Quality and Patient Safety in the HSE.
EQUIPS terminology explained
Quality can mean different things to different people. For example, a report by the Committee on Quality of Health Care in America (1), which is often cited by researchers in quality and patient articles describes six indicators of quality:
- Timeliness
- Efficiency
- Safety
- Patient-centredness
- Effectiveness
- Equity
Other proposed quality indicators include environmental sustainability, leadership, resilience, and kin- centredness (see this opinion article by Lachman and others) for a recent discussion.
One of the tasks of EQUIPS is to identify existing quality frameworks and interpret which are most suitable for the Irish healthcare context. See the EQUIPS’ work page to read more [link to page].
The Health Services Executive Patient Safety Strategy 2019-2024, state ‘patient safety can, at its simplest, be defined as: the avoidance, prevention and amelioration of adverse outcomes or injuries stemming from the process of healthcare’ (p. 5).
Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines patient safety as ‘the absence of preventable harm to a patient and reduction of risk of unnecessary harm associated with health care to an acceptable minimum in healthcare’.
Whilst some harm in healthcare is unavoidable (for example, some people may need to take medication which has side effects to manage another illness), the ‘avoidable’ or ‘preventable’ harm described in the above definitions refer to harm which arises as the result of an ‘adverse event’ or ‘Serious Reportable Events’. The WHO (2023) describes examples such as medication, surgical, or diagnostic error, amongst others. Whilst the term ‘error’ is used, it is now widely accepted that most adverse events occur because of multiple systemic factors, rather than simply ‘human error’ (WHO, 2023).
We know from the Irish National Adverse Event Study (NAES; Rafter et al., 2017) that an adverse event occurred in approximately 1 in 8 acute hospital admissions in 2009 and that this had not significantly changed by 2015 according to a follow-up study (Connolly et al., 2021), suggesting there is still improvement work to be done in patient safety in Ireland.
An evidence-base is important to help people make informed decisions about quality and patient safety which are informed by robust research. In this case, the EQUIPS Research Network aims to provide evidence related to quality and patient safety research in the Irish context.
The WHO previously highlighted the importance of conducting applied multi-disciplinary research specific to local contexts, to generate and share knowledge, to improve patient safety and care quality. There is a modest but growing evidence base regarding quality and patient safety (QPS) in Ireland, but this has been somewhat disjointed (O’Connor et al., 2022). The Irish health system has been successful in developing a culture of Quality Improvement (QI) activity over the past decade. Gaps exist however, in the conduct of equity-focussed QI work, the
initiation of programmes of QI in primary care and the assessment of cost-effectiveness (McCarthy et al., 2021).
A network refers to an interconnected group of people. Research networks promoting collaboration between different institutions and stakeholders are growing (Adams, 2012). Networks may increase knowledge transmission and trustworthiness (Nyirenda et al., 2020).
The EQUIPS Research Network aims to bring together anyone interested in quality and patient safety research in Ireland, whether they are doing research, or using research to inform their professional practice, or their own patient journey.
