Section I. 1Annex 1b

Expected outcome

Through the work of this WP the health authorities, stakeholders and healthcare organizations at national and regional level will experience raising awareness, exchange experience and gain knowledge on GOP including PS and PI. It will also facilitate strategies for GOP implementation at national or regional level.

Milestones

Coordination meetings for this WP are proposed for M7 and M15. An action plan is scheduled for M16.

Deliverables

WP6 is to deliver project deliverable no. 4 (Report on QMS in MS) at month 34. This deliverable will be a report including: analysis of QMS in MS/Regions, stakeholders’ perspective, selection of transferable GOPs focusing on quality of healthcare, including PS and PI and the differences and common elements of the QMS in the MS as well as new trends and experiences identified.

Organisation within WP6

The WP Leader is the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (MSSSI). Twenty three other Associated Partners (APs) are involved in the WP. The core group includes: MSSSI, FAD, AQuMed, IfPS, HIQA, NIVEL, EPF, HOPE and HAS. Among them, task leaders are appointed for the following main tasks according to expertise and preference:

1. 
   Review of previous work (FAD) and define a common terminology (AQuMed)
   
2. 
   Define a Framework (NIVEL)
   
3. 
   Data collection identifying GOPs and needs from MS (IfPS, EPF)
   
4. 
   Feasibility analysis and action plan (FAD-MSSSI)
   
5. 
   Preparation and implementation of Exchange mechanism: objectives and methods (HOPE) , Analysis of the exchange mechanism (HIQA)
   
6. 
   Findings on GOPs description (NIVEL) and sharing through an interactive IT platform
   
7. 
   Final report (FAD-MSSSI)
   

MSSSI (WP Leader) will act as the contact to the Coordinator of the project (HAS) in procedural and administrative matters. MSSSI and FAD will be responsible for coordinating activities within the WP and will assist the task leaders in their work.

Coordination and communication

• 
  General communication among WP6 APs will be established through emails and tools developed by WP2 (forum, extranet facilities, wiki platforms)
  
• 
  Communication within task group leaders and the core group will be established through the wiki-platform, mails and monthly teleconferences
  
• 
  Coordination meetings will be organized at month 7 and month 15 –hosts to be determined (suggested: Germany for first meeting, Spain for last meeting)
  
• 
  External communication and coordination with other WPs: through the WP Leader using the tools developed by WP2, emails and teleconferences. A specific coordination with WP4 will be established for the retrieval of information, site visits and final report.
  

The final WP6 work plan will be developed by the WP Leader and FAD, discussed with the core group first, secondly with all APs of WP6 and finally included in the JA work plan to be validated by all the AP of the JA.

Methodology

1) Review previous work and define a common terminology.

1. 
   A questionnaire will be developed to facilitate information collection in relation to existing projects and literature: EU projects (SIMPATIE, MARQUiS, Value+, Handover, DUQue, Linneaus...), OECD, WHO and also related initiatives (future JA on Rare Diseases) or legal provisions (Patients Rights on Cross-Border Health Care Directive) and other projects, reports, etc.
   
2. 
   The terminology must ensure a common understanding of the WP6 concepts and form the basis for the specific WP6 framework.
   

2. 
   Define a framework
   

This will be done at Project level and specifically together with WP 4 and 5. Some examples that can be used are:

1. 
   Sustaining Quality of Healthcare: Institutionalization of Quality Assurance, 2002
   
2. 
   OECD framework
   
3. 
   International Essentials of Health Care Quality and Patient Safety™ (Hospital edition), 2010.
   
1. 
   Data collection identifying GOPs and needs from MS through specifically developed instruments
   
   1. 
      Another questionnaire will be developed and applied to each MS/Region in order to capture:
      
      1. 
         Perceived needs by MS/Regions, according to the designed framework. The analysis of these needs will allow the opportunity to learn from others through the exchange mechanism. This learning process will be useful to orientate for further development by MS (Capacity building; Implementations to be developed; Implementation strategies; Leadership…).
         
      2. 
         Identification of GOPs from MS/Regions, to be shared with others through the exchange mechanism
         
      3. 
         This questionnaire will be designed according to the identified areas in the framework and in agreement with the other WP leaders. The idea is to have a single questionnaire (with different sections, one for each WP) to be sent to the MS in order to facilitate the retrieval of information and reduce missing data.
         
   2. 
      Supplementary data will be collected from MS if necessary to clarify the information provided through the questionnaire. The wiki-platform could be considered as a mechanism to collect this additional information.
      
2. 
   Feasibility analysis and action plan
   
3. 
   Preparation and implementation of the Exchange mechanism:
   
   1. 
      Site visits: oriented to learn from others, share experiences and complete information collection. The site visits will aim at facilitating exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding the QMS in place in MS. The following dimensions will be addressed: Knowledge sharing; Intervention/demonstration projects; Strategies for stakeholder involvement; Incentives; Legal initiatives; External pressure and contracts…
      
   2. 
      Establishment of objectives and methods for the visits. The selection of GOPs for site visits will be made in agreement with WP6 APs and validated by the SC.
      

WP1 will organize country visits in coordination with NCPs. These visits will provide opportunities for experts from WPs 4 and 6 to meet relevant national stakeholders, to collect information and exchange experiences regarding their respective fields of interest (safe clinical practices [SCP] for WP4 and GOPs for WP6).

1. 
   GOPs selection (criteria development and final selection) and qualitative analysis. The final selection performed by AP will be presented to the EB and validated by the SC.
   
1. 
   Sharing information through an interactive IT platform. This communication tool should include:
   
   1. 
      The reporting on QMS in MS.
      
   2. 
      All GOPs identified through the retrieval of information phase
      
   3. 
      The GOPs selected for the exchange mechanism
      

This tool will be designed so as to easily update information on a regular basis after the end of the project.

7. 
   Report on QMS and GOPs. The report will include the methodology used, analysis and results of the mapping exercise with all the organisational practises identified, a thorough description of the selected ones, and the different elements of the QMS in the MS as well as new trends and experiences identified. The conclusions will present the differences and commonalities of QMS at EU level. This final report should also be validated by WP6 AP, discussed in the EB and validated by the SC.
   

Table 10: WP6 Timeframe of work

Activity	Start and termination of activity by month	Task leaders
Kick-off meeting	2
Review and data collection
Questionnaire development	1-2	FAD-NIVEL
Review and define a common terminology	2-6	AQuMed-FAD
Defining a framework	6	NIVEL
Coordination meeting (milestone)	7	Spain with host
Questionnaire development according to framework	6-7	IfPS
Data collection	7-10	EPF
Status, feasibility analysis and action plan
Status and feasibility analysis for WP6	10-14	FAD-MSSSI
Preparation of exchange mechanisms
Organising exchange mechanism: -Criteria to select GOPs -Site-visits & exchange mechanism -Online information about exchange mechanism	12-15 15	NIVEL HOPE
Coordination meeting (milestone)	15	Spain with host
Action plan (milestone)	16	FAD-MSSSI
Implementation: exchange mechanisms	15-30	HOPE All WP6- AP
Analysis of exchange mechanisms	15-32	HIQA
Assessment of implementation and selection of GOPs	30-34	NIVEL-FAD
Report on GOPs including PS and PI	34	FAD-MSSSI