Quality management in Irish Healthcare

This article reports the findings from a quantitative research study of quality management within the Irish Healthcare Sector. The survey results indicate that quality management has not fully permeated the sector although indications are that interest is growing in adopting this approach. The study revealed that, for all the hospitals, an aim to improve the quality of care delivered was the predominant factor for the uptake of quality. The findings suggest that even though quality management is in its infancy within the sector a substantial number of responding organisations reported that their programmes have been reasonably successful with patient satisfaction and quality awareness increasing as a result.