We recently presented on our work demonstrating continuous quality improvement in patient and public partnership and person-centred communications at the 2026 International Society for Quality in Healthcare conference (ISQua2026).
The conference, held in partnership with the Department of Health and HSE, took place in The Convention Centre Dublin from 28 to 30 September. It brought together more than 1,700 healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, patient advocates and quality improvement leaders from over 90 countries to explore how health services can improve quality, safety and patient care.
Increasing diversity in our Patient and Public Partnership
Our first presentation, co-presented with our Patient and Public Partnership (PPP) representative Linda Sice Brogan, shared how we co-produced a recruitment campaign with PPP representatives to increase both the size and diversity of our partnership.
We wanted to hear from more people with different backgrounds and experiences so that our PPP better reflected the populations using our screening services. Our project team brought together PPP representatives and staff with expertise in communications, health promotion and behavioural science.
We looked at evidence about the barriers that can make it difficult for people to get involved in patient and public partnerships. We used approaches including storytelling, social norming, message framing, plain language and greater flexibility to help address the barriers.
At the conference, we presented the results of how we grew our PPP. This showed how our campaign generated 14 new PPP members, including 6 from more diverse backgrounds. The campaign helped us to learn more about how we could improve our recruitment processes. This included the need to be specific about the diversity we wanted to achieve and to involve people from diverse backgrounds in co-producing recruitment activity.
A practical workshop to improve diverse representation
We also co-facilitated an interactive workshop with delegates to explore practical ways healthcare organisations can recruit patient and public partners from more diverse communities.
Participants worked together to help design a practical Diversity Mapping Tool that healthcare teams could use to identify gaps and improve recruitment of patient and public representatives from diverse communities.
Participants worked in groups using personas from diverse communities. They considered potential barriers to getting involved and identified realistic actions that could help encourage and support people from those communities to take part. They also considered how the success of these actions could be evaluated.
The workshop built on lessons from our own recruitment campaign, including:
- the importance of identifying the communities we want to reach
- understanding potential barriers to participation
- developing practical ways to make involvement more inclusive.
Building a culture of clear communication
Our second presentation focused on our work to build a clear, person-centred communications approach across the National Screening Service.
We shared how we developed an evidence-based communications toolkit for our staff, aligned with HSE national guidance on written communications. The toolkit was developed through an iterative and collaborative approach with staff and our PPP representatives. It gives staff practical guidance on plain language, tone of voice, structure, and inclusive and accessible communications, supported by local examples related to screening, checklists and resources. We combined the toolkit with a staff webinar, tailored workshops and exercises to support staff to communicate more clearly and consistently, putting people first and reflecting our HSE values of care, compassion, trust and learning.
We shared some of the early results and learning from this work, including how it has helped to:
- build staff communications capability
- improve clarity and consistency across our communications
- increase awareness of clear, inclusive and accessible communication
- embed continuous quality improvement in how we develop information
- strengthen a culture of clear, person-centred communication
- consolidate alignment with HSE national guidance on written communications
- support our strategic goal of increasing participation in screening.
We will use the learning and ideas from the conversations at the conference to continue improving how we involve patients and the public in our work and how we communicate clearly, to strengthen our commitment to delivering safe, effective and person-centred care for our screening participants and communities across Ireland.