Quality improvement at times of crisis

Health systems across the globe have faced unprecedented strain and uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic. Healthcare providers have had to respond rapidly, making major changes to all aspects of healthcare from moving to remote delivery of primary care services to creating covid “hot” and “cold” zones and developing innovations which are likely to have both short and long term consequences for the health of the population.

Quality improvement has been increasingly used globally over the past decade to change healthcare. Evidence of success is mixed. Have such approaches added any value to healthcare service delivery during these unparalleled rapid changes? Are scientifically based approaches to complex system change, such as quality improvement, helping healthcare providers during a crisis?

This paper offers evidence based on personal experience of how quality improvement has been applied during the pandemic and how it has contributed to the response, and reflects on what we might learn.