The role of chief executive officers in a quality improvement initiative: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES To identify the critical dimensions of hospital Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) involvement in a quality and safety and to offer practical guidance to assist CEOs to fulfil their leadership role in quality improvement (QI). DESIGN Qualitative interview study. SETTING 20 organisations participating in the main phase of the Safer Patients Initiative (SPI) programme across the UK. PARTICIPANTS 17 CEOs overseeing 19 organisations participating in the main phase of the SPI programme and 36 staff (20 workstream leads, 10 coordinators and 6 managers) involved in SPI across all 20 participating organisations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Self-reported perceptions of CEOs on their contribution and involvement within the SPI programme, supplemented by staff peer-reports. RESULTS The CEOs recognised the importance of their part in the SPI programme and gave detailed accounts of the perceived value that their involvement had brought at all stages of the process. In exploring the parts played by the CEOs, five dimensions were identified: (1) resource provision; (2) staff motivation and engagement; (3) commitment and support; (4) monitoring progress and (5) embedding programme elements. Staff reports confirmed these dimensions; however, the weighting of the dimensions differed. The findings stress the importance of particular actions of support and monitoring such as constant communication through leadership walk rounds and reviewing programme progress and its related clinical outcomes at Board meetings. CONCLUSIONS This study addressed the call for more research-informed practical guidance on the role of senior management in QI s. The findings show that the CEOs provided key participation considered to significantly contribute towards the SPI programme. CEOs and staff identified a number of clear and consistent themes essential to organisation safety improvement. Queries raised include the tangible benefits of executive involvement in changing structures and embedding for sustainability and the practical steps to creating the 'right' environment for QI.