Quality and Safety in Healthcare

Entry requirements

Eligible students will have undergraduate degree (minimum 2:2 or equivalent) in a related field of study or be able to demonstrate equivalent skills and aptitudes through the possession of a professional or vocational qualification and/or the accrual of relevant work experiences. Relevant experience can come from a wide spectrum of work but clear evidence of the relevance of this experience must be provided.

Intercalating medical students

You will need to have completed year 3 or 4 of your medical course, and be in the 9th decile or above of your degree. External candidates require a permission to intercalate letter from their current medical school. Learn more about intercalated degrees.

Accredited Prior Learning (APL)

If you have relevant Masters-level (level 7) credits completed during the last three years you may be eligible to apply for credits against your course modules. The maximum accreditation of prior learning is 60 credits for the PGDip and the MSc, and 30 credits for the PGCert. Exemptions are considered on a case by case basis.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Harm resulting from unsafe healthcare is one of the ten leading causes of death and disability in the world today. While it seems inherently obvious that patient safety should be at the heart of everything we do in healthcare, the mechanisms for doing so are not always simple. Learning about quality and patient safety will equip you to lead change in healthcare that can make a real impact on the experiences and outcomes of patients. A sound theoretical knowledge of quality improvement and patient safety will help you to identify and design interventions for change that have the greatest chance of decreasing patient harm, improving patient experience and generating a sustainable positive working environment.

On our MSc, you will learn the practice and theories of healthcare quality and patient safety from our academics, who are leading world-class research in this area, and from experts in quality and safety at our NHS partners. Among the topics you will study are quality improvement methods, the influences on patient safety, methods and knowledge in the discipline of ergonomics and human factors, and the use of data for quality improvement and patient safety. You will also be supported to develop key transferable skills in critical appraisal, academic writing, project management and communication.