From Idea to Impact: Three Projects from the Quality Improvement Lead (QIL) Training and how they Turned Everyday Challenges into Measurable Wins

Have you ever noticed something on your ward or in your service and thought, there could be a better way? These clinicians did and their efforts had impact.

Across Australia and internationally, clinicians and managers are undertaking the ACHS Improvement Academy’s Quality Improvement Lead (QIL) Training Program to turn ideas into meaningful, measurable improvement. 

Over nine months, QIL participants lead a real, work-based improvement project in their own organisation, supported by expert coaching, practical tools and a community of peers. Participants are supported to make tangible changes that improve patient outcomes, strengthen safety culture and make care safer and more reliable. 

Impactful Project Snapshots 

The QIL Project Summaries highlight what this looks like in practice across acute, community and specialist services. Alumni stories highlight how improvement science translates into real-world impact. Here are three of those stories  
 

Critical Care: Preventing Falls in a High-Pressure Emergency Unit 

At Royal Hobart Hospital’s Emergency Medical Unit, QIL graduates Courtney Jones, Kylie Shelverton and Iain Wilson led a focused improvement project to address patient falls in a fast-paced, high-risk environment where prolonged stays had contributed to serious harm.  

Using QIL diagnostic tools and the Clinical Practice Improvement method, the team identified key contributor. These included workload pressures, environmental risks and patients’ reluctance to seek help. They then tested practical interventions such as a dedicated falls trolley, a validated rounding tool and targeted training for Assistants in Nursing. The work not only reduced falls risk but also strengthened shared responsibility, environmental awareness and the unit’s safety culture, supporting sustained improvement beyond falls prevention. 

I think it was an excellent course. It has been one of the most worthwhile courses I’ve done in my entire career in Australia or overseas. It will genuinely change how I practice for the rest of my life. The teaching was excellent, and programs like this are exactly what the Australian healthcare system needs otherwise we are leading to a crisis 

- Dr Prashant Pruthi, Clinical Director Critical Care 

Community Service: Recognising Dying Earlier to Improve End-of-Life Care 

In Western Sydney Community Palliative Care Services, QIL graduate Clare Warren, Clinical Nurse Consultant Quality, Safety and Risk Officer at Silverchain, led an improvement project to address gaps in recognising when patients were entering the terminal phase,an issue that in 2022 affected 36% of patients who died at home.  

Using audits, staff surveys and consumer feedback, the project tackled knowledge gaps and clinicians’ discomfort with difficult conversations through targeted education, updates to electronic clinical records, mandatory assessments embedded in referrals, and a structured mentoring and buddying model. Within months, deaths occurring outside the recognised terminal phase fell by 13%, alongside increased clinician confidence and more timely, compassionate communication with patients and families, with the work continuing to inform broader improvements in end-of-life care. 

Surgical: Improving Wound Management and Infection Rates following Caesarean Sections 

Mrs Georgie Kakoulis, Advanced Nurse Consultant in Infection Control at the Women and Children’s Health (WCH) Network, worked on a project that focused on reducing surgical site infection (SSI) rates following lower segment caesarean sections at South Australia’s largest maternity service.  

In response to SSI rates rising from 0.8 to 2.0 per 100 procedures in one year, Georgie led a collaborative, multidisciplinary improvement effort, addressing gaps in communication, documentation, wound care guidance and consistency of practice. The project prompted important conversations and system-wide awareness, contributing to an early reduction in SSI rates back to 0.8 per 100 procedures. Ongoing audits, education, wound champions and plans for a co-designed, culturally appropriate bundle of care are now shaping sustained improvement in infection prevention for women undergoing caesarean sections. 

Ready to turn your ideas into measurable impact and become a leader in healthcare improvement?  

The 2026 Quality Improvement Lead (QIL) Training Program is now open for enrolment with a starting date of 12 March 2026.