Major conference for hospitals in Italy

Citation

(2002), "Major conference for hospitals in Italy", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 15 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2002.06215dac.001

Major conference for hospitals in Italy

Major conference for hospitals in Italy

The meeting "System quality: European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model", hosted by Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia was held on 7 and 8’March 2002 in Udine, Italy. For more information, you may like to visit the hospital's Web site on: www.ospedaleudine.it

The aims of the meeting were:

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  to introduce for the first time the EFQM excellence model in Italian health-care settings;

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  to help participants discover how other European organisations have used the model to improve their performance; and

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  to share Italian experiences and programmes on practical applications of the model.

On 7 March, an open session was held at the Giornate Udinesi Del Governo Clinico in Udine, where approximately 300 participants from health-care organisations throughout the whole of Italy took part.

7 March 2002 – morning session

Franco Perraro, honorary president of the Italian Society for Quality Assurance, formally opened the morning session and chaired the whole of the morning programme. Gilberto Bragonzi, chief executive of Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia, followed the opening session by emphasising the need for a holistic approach to health-care improvement.

Michael Perides, senior associate fellow of the Centre for Excellence Development, University of Salford and chairman of EFQM health sector group, provided an overview of the fundamental concepts of excellence and EFQM excellence model. Dr Perides informed the delegates that the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) was founded in 1988 by the presidents of 14 major European companies, with the endorsement of the European Commission. The main aim of the EFQM was to make European businesses more competitive through the application of the philosophy of total quality management. The delegates learned that the EFQM excellence model, based on the principles of self-assessment, continuous improvement, learning and innovation and a culture totally focused on the customer, is now applied successfully in many European health-care organisations. Furthermore, the EFQM health sector group, including representatives from many European countries, has the purpose of studying and promoting the use of the model within health care.

Sue Jackson, head of programmes from The Centre for Excellence Development, University of Salford and an active member of EFQM health sector group, clarified the meaning of excellence in health care and provided an overview of the use of the EFQM excellence model within the UK, categorised as:

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  whole organisation as a bottom-up approach for continuous improvement;

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  whole organisation as a top-down approach for performance management; and

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  applying just the RADAR logic to specific objectives.

As secrets for successful implementation Sue highlighted:

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  top management commitment;

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  people involvement;

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  do not be managed by the model; and

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  remember that people learn at different speeds.

Pierluigi Morosini, Istituto Superiore della Sanità, Rome, member of the ExPeRT team, introduced assessment models, which are available in Europe, namely visitation, European Quality Awards, ISO certification, accreditation and government inspection, suggesting that there is a potential convergence between the models.

Future developments promise more emphasis on results and continuous improvement, as well as on customer and people empowerment and on medical effectiveness.

Claudia Migliore, former referent for the CAF experimentation project, gave a comprehensive speech on CAF (common assessment framework), a simplified framework for self-assessment used in European public sector organisations, and on its first European implementation.

7 March 2002 – afternoon session

The round-table in the afternoon, chaired by Andrea Gardini, president of the Italian Society for Quality Assurance, focused on practical applications of the model in Italy and on its relationship with accreditation.

Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia acknowledged that Sandra Vernero, head of quality, Udine Health Trust and an active member of EFQM health sector group, has set a programme for implementing the fundamental concepts of the EFQM excellence model and the RADAR logic in the whole organisation through multi-level self-assessment and the training of EFQM champions.

Throughout the day delegates were reminded that the EFQM excellence model has the ability to incorporate initiatives that are already being applied in an organisation, so they can be viewed as an over-arching framework which will integrate all ongoing activities.

The model framework highlights the importance of effective leadership and that leaders need to demonstrate how they develop the mission, vision and values which underpin policy, strategies and processes. Leaders are also involved in understanding and responding to the needs and expectations of different stakeholders including customers.

Carlo Favaretti, chief executive of the Provincial Agency of Health Services, Trento and Mariella Martini, chief executive of Reggio Emilia General Hospital, presented their experience and their programmes of EFQM excellence model application within their organisations.

In particular, in Trento, a first self-assessment through an EFQM questionnaire, given to five panels of about 70 directors, has already been distributed and the self-assessment results are used for their organisation planning.

Readers of the journal may be interested to note that a network of Italian health-care organisations has already been created which are interested in practical application of the EFQM model for comparing experiences and working together to overcome common problems. Anyone wanting to know more about this network can e-mail Sandra Vernero via: vernero.sandra@aoud.sanita.fvg.it

As an example of the application of the model in an Italian private sector organisation, Aldo Maggis, head of quality of ST Microelectronics, introduced his experience of self-assessment and continuous improvement.

Carlo Liva, Regional Agency of Health and Social Services, Rome, focused on Italian laws on accreditation and, in particular, on institutional accreditation and stressed the different laws of some Italian regions.

A lot of people participated in the discussion, because they were interested in practical applications of the model.

Andrea Gardini highlighted that until now health-care organisations were looked upon as machines; however, they are now seen more as open systems in a continuous exchange with their environment.

The session concluded with the introduction of the book + CD-ROM, A Quality System for the Quality of the System: Sandra Vernero said that it provides a possible way towards quality for a health-care organisation, founded on its previous experiences, self-assessment and a set of indicators and reviewed according to the EFQM excellence model.

8 March 2002 – Udine Health TrustS. Maria della Misericordia

8 March, a training course was provided for the strategic management staff, branch directors and clinical departmental managers of Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia. Approximately 80 participants attended for the whole day.

Dr Michael Perides and Sue Jackson from the Centre for Excellence Development, University of Salford provided a lively and interactive session on fundamental concepts of excellence, EFQM excellence model structure and the RADAR Logic.

In the afternoon, participants worked in eight groups, applying the RADAR logic to the strategic trust objectives they had previously proposed. The participants realized that enhancing performance may be achieved through the involvement of all people in the continuous improvement of their processes.

This event was seen as a major step in the pursuit of a culture of excellence at Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia. Dr Michael Perides and Sue Jackson were both very impressed by the speed with which the participants grasped the principles of the model and the RADAR logic and were even more impressed by their energy for change. There is a feeling that much is going to happen at Udine Health Trust S. Maria della Misericordia, so this is an organisation worth watching in the future.

Acknowledgements

The organisers of the two-day event would like to thank everyone who helped make the experience enjoyable, valuable and successful. Who knows – a follow-up may be arranged for some time in the future?