The MSc Leading Quality Improvement will support you to become an expert in health care quality improvement and innovation based on effectiveness (the use of evidence); efficiency (service reliability); and acceptability (the service user experience). Using leading evidence based research we’ll ensure you can, as the next generation of improvement and innovation experts, apply this evidence in practice – making research real, and impacting directly on the quality of frontline services.

You’ll develop skills to help you identify and explore problems and opportunities in order to deliver valuable solutions to improve healthcare in practice.  All of this will be supported by developing your critical thinking and ability to research the problems and opportunities you face, and help you to identify the cutting edge solutions. We’ll help you to gain insight into your own leadership preferences and styles in order to lead and challenge others to develop health services. 

This is a very broad qualification that appeals to a wide variety of people in clinical and non-clinical roles working in any area that healthcare is delivered or it’s delivery monitored.  We attract students from very diverse backgrounds including nursing; medical; allied health professionals (e.g., Therapy professionals; paramedics; laboratory staff); NHS and wider healthcare management, the Royal College of Veterinary Nurses and journalism.
 
Attention will be paid to the components of improving quality, including public policy and organisational strategy; governance and risk management; leadership; professional behaviour change; and service user involvement. The MSc provides a focus for ‘research into teaching’ around the School’s research expertise in implementation.

You’ll be supported by the programme lead, Dr David Evans who has over 15 years’ experience of leading large teams, in healthcare. This includes board level roles in acute hospital and community services, in the UK and Middle East. His previous role was to lead adult and children’s community teams across Manchester (1,200 staff, £40m budget), this included the leadership and development of integrated health and social care teams. In addition to this he co-produced the 2020 vision and new delivery model for frail older people and people with dementia, as part of a Manchester citywide strategic plan. More recently the he has been working with Welsh Government to develop and implement care pathways for dental services across the country.

You can study this MSc full-time in one year. Many of our students chose to study our part-time programme, completed over three years, which requires you to attend the university site on about 15 days each year. As a guideline as a part-time student, you’ll need to devote 1 day a week to your learning.  This day is not always in the class, but may involve coaching and supervision sessions, or your own directed learning and reading. Taught sessions and tutorials will be delivered in class (subject to Covid-19 requirements) and online and we generally try to limit these – for part time students – to 3 hours per week. Full-time students would require, on average, three days per week of dedicated time to learning and support. In addition to this, we support you through online material, tutorials and guidance.

By the end of the programme, you’ll think differently about problems, and how you can draw from your learning to bring solutions to those problems. You’ll also develop a network between your fellow students that will support the development of your career. 

This course is intended to support the academic, professional and career progression of healthcare professionals working in, or aspiring to clinical leadership and quality roles within UK and international health care organisations. The learning within the programme will also be of key relevance to professionals from social care and related policy areas, especially those working in leadership roles.

During recent years several students have  secured promotions whilst undertaking the programme and were supported with coaching from the course lead, other students have developed their confidence and applied for new and larger roles that have developed their career, or taken them onto new roles and a number have secured full time study on PhD’s, as they continue their academic development.