Saskatchewan Quality Health Council

They help make change happen faster for better health and health care.

Established in 2002 as the first organization of its kind in Canada, the Health Quality Council (HQC) has worked with patients and families, clinicians, administrators, researchers, students, and quality improvement specialists to accelerate improvement in the quality of health and health care in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Health Quality Council (HQC) is an independent organization, operating at arms-length from the Government of Saskatchewan. Since 2002, they have been accelerating improvement in health care across the province through training and education (building improvement capability and spreading innovation throughout the province), improvement initiatives, and research.

Based on their mandate outlined in the Health Quality Council Act, we aim to:

• monitor and assess the quality of health and healthcare
• help partners build their capacity for quality improvement
• promote research and education leading to improvement in health and healthcare
  

  Their Role

   

  They partner with and support health organizations, government, community organizations, and communities across the province to drive progress toward better health and better care for all. They place energy where they believe they can use their skills to make the most impact. Their work is informed by citizens, communities, and shared system priorities impacting health. Their work in the health system is guided by improvement efforts within the health system, health system priorities, and where the system needs to go.

  They focus their work on three key service areas:

  • Measurement and analytics: By asking difficult questions, challenging the status quo, and finding answers to the questions that matter, they put the vital information into the hands of people who can make change happen through policies or through how health care is delivered.
  • Collaboration: Theyecreate or contribute to environments where stakeholders work together on shared outcomes. They offer their skills in quality improvement, research (measurement and analytics), and facilitation to help stakeholders make change happen faster in health and health care.
  • Skill-building: They develop skills in partners so they can confidently make change happen in their fields. This allows them to support the development of a culture and mindset of quality improvement.