This research is co-funded by the Health Research Board/Medical Research Charities Group and St. Patrick's Hospital Foundation.

Measuring Quality of Care is increasingly recognised as a vital part of assessing and improving healthcare.  Not only is it important in maintaining and improving standards of care, but higher quality care is associated with improved outcomes in a wide range of disorders, both in general medicine and in psychiatry.

Until recently, attempts to measure quality of care have focused largely on what clinicians regard as important, and the perspective of service users has been relatively neglected. This is a crucial issue, since some studies show that good quality care, as assessed by users, is better at predicting good outcome than that assessed by clinicians.  However, few studies have attempted to develop a quality of care instrument that incorporates both the clinical and the patients’ views.  We have previously worked, in London, on developing such an instrument for use in people with psychotic illnesses from different ethnic groups.

Thanks to donors like you, this research project is currently being carried out at St. Patrick’s University Hospital.

Read more about the project >>