Leadership for Healthcare Improvement

We are at a time of rapid change in the Healthcare sector, this is the ideal time to improve your leadership and management skills in the field of Quality and Service improvement, whilst using current research and improvement techniques to support your current improvement project endeavours.

The Covid-19 pandemic has bought about great change at a fast pace, this award can be used to systematically piece together the research and theory to support this change. Completing this award would give you the knowledge and skills required to ensure that your project has a long-term positive impact, is economically sustainable and is led and managed effectively.

Studying towards our innovative Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership for Healthcare Improvement at Derby will:

• Support and Enable you to undertake improvement activities in your organisation 
• Allow you to study at a time and place that suits you, through online modules and flexible assessment topics
• Meet your professional and personal development needs in line with your own professional CPD and professional registration requirements
• Explore the complexity of quality and service improvement by working on specific areas of your clinical practice and establishing leadership and management skills regarding change
• Gain academic credit for systemically applying improvement theory to a project that may be part of your usual clinical role.

Increase your knowledge, improve your practice

If you’re an healthcare practitioner involved in high level decision-making and problem-solving, this course will help you to increase your knowledge, think innovatively and practically, and improve your practice.

Develop a deeper understanding of your role and practice

We’ll encourage you to gather evidence, which you will then critically evaluate, in order to develop your understanding of the impact that changes could have on your role and practice. You’ll also gain an insight into the dilemmas and conflicts associated with introducing improvement plans, enabling you to think strategically about planning service improvement activities.

Finally, you will take forward an improvement cycle in your workplace and use your experience to reflect on future service improvement. 

Examples of previous workplace improvement programmes include:

• Systematic approaches to radiography processes
• Expanding capacity of undergraduate student on placements
• Coding processes for admitting named clinician
• Development of a paediatric competency training programme
• Introducing assistant practitioners into general theatres
• Introducing an occupational therapist into community nursing teams

On successful completion, you can expect to work confidently as an improvement practitioner, capable of planning and implementing service improvements in your field of practice. You may wish to continue studying at master’s level and work towards completion of the MSc Leadership in Health and Social Care award.

During this course, you will develop your critical thinking, decision making, and autonomous practice skills.

This course is flexible, with all modules available online, so you can study at a time and place to suit you. You’ll need to be working within a health care environment before you start this course.

We’re proud to say that our courses are closely mapped against the health and social care sector. This ensures that our curriculum is up-to-date, providing you with the assurance that your learning is current and relevant. This does mean that we do have to respond to national changes such as government policy. As a result, some of the information about our courses may change. Please check the website for the latest information.

You’ll study these modules:

• Quality Improvement- Principles and Preparation (20 Credits)
• Quality Improvement- Implementing (40 Credits)

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

You will first study Quality Improvement- Principles and Preparation. No prior quality or service improvement experience is necessary. This module will guide you through the key elements required to construct a sound quality improvement project, to the point of implementation. 

Quality Improvement- Implementing follows on from the Principles and Preparation module. This module will support you as you bring your project to life, allowing you to critically appraise the challenges you face in clinical practice.

Both modules require you to reflect on your development throughout leading and managing your project, supporting your personal and professional development.

You may wish to complete the full masters and move on to doctoral level study when you've finished this course. However, many students go on to develop, specialise in and lead, the implementation of health care improvement services. This course is diverse so you could use the skills and knowledge you've gained to work in other areas of the public and private sectors.

You'll usually need a degree or equivalent qualification, and you must already be working in a healthcare environment. Please contact the module leader if you would like further guidance.

This programme is an interim award embedded within the MSc Leadership for Health and Social Care degree, therefore you will need to apply for the full degree and specify these modules on your application. You do not need to continue to complete the full degree, however you will receive support and guidance from the Health and Social care team to explore your aspirations and guide you to the most suitable route for you.

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Minimum numbers

Please note that this course is subject to minimum numbers in order to run.

Contact us

If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.