In this episode of the Walk and Talk Improvement Podcast, we partner with the Mapping Healthcare Podcast. Dr. John Fitzsimons and Dr. Ulfat Shaikh explore how patient safety approaches can be applied whilst caring for the youngest members of our communities. They also acknowledge some of the unique features and risks in the care of newborns and children that must be addressed to make care as safe as possible.

This podcast marks the theme of this year's WHO World Patient Safety Day "Safe Care for Every Newborn and Every Child".

Guests:

Dr. Ulfat Shaikh is Professor of Paediatrics and Medical Director of Healthcare Quality at the University of California Davis Health. She focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating health systems improvement methods across a broad range of health care settings to improve health care delivery and outcomes.

She is the Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and is on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare. Ulfat was the Associate Editor of PSNet, a national web-based patient safety resource funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and previously served as Clinical Quality Officer at the California Department of Health Care Services.

At the University of California Davis, she has led over 500 clinicians in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across departments. She was named an American Board of Pediatrics Paul V. Miles Fellow in recognition of her contributions to improving the quality of healthcare for children.

Ulfat has been a practicing paediatrician for 25 years and holds a Doctor of Medicine, master’s in public health, a master’s in clinical research, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. John Fitzsimons is a Consultant Paediatrician with a special interest in allergy at Children’s Health Ireland, Temple Street in Dublin where he is an RCSI Honorary Clinical Associate Professor. He also works with HSE National Quality & Patient Safety (NQPS) as Clinical Director for Quality Improvement (QI) and with the RCPI on QI and Patient Safety Education. He is course director of the HSE funded RCPI Post-Graduate certificate in Quality Improvement Leadership in Healthcare which has over 800 graduates and coached more than 250 improvement projects.

John has contributed to national improvement projects including Irish Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS), Situation Awareness for Everyone (SAFE), the HSE Patient Safety Strategy (2019-2024) and most recently the HSE’s Quality & Patient Safety Competency Navigator (2025). He is a visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for Innovative Human Systems (Human Factors) at Trinity College Dublin. He is an editor of the Oxford Handbook of Patient Safety (2022) and a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of Quality Improvement (2024) and has several peer reviewed publications in the field. He is a regular host and contributor to QI and Patient safety webinars and podcasts in Ireland.

Hosted by: Dr. John Fitzsimons, Consultant Paediatrician, Children’s Health Ireland

Produced by: Juanita Guidera, National Quality and Patient Safety, Health Service Executive, Ireland and GKMedia.ie

About Mapping Healthcare

Mapping Healthcare is a radio show and podcast where a medic with a map explores ways in which people around the globe make the world of healthcare better and what we can learn from them. The host is a paediatrician, educator, and researcher who leads programs to help people access high-quality healthcare and stay healthy. All past episodes are archived below. Find Mapping Healthcare on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Lessons from quality improvement in practice

In this episode of the Walk and Talk Improvement podcast, we are joined by two special guests - Susan O’Reilly and Dr. Rob Cunney. Susan is an Assistant Director of Nursing for Dementia Quality Improvement for HSE Dublin and Midlands and Rob is a Consultant Microbiologist and QI/Clinical Audit Lead at Children's Health Ireland.

This episode is packed with practical advice that can help you drive meaningful improvements in your own health or social care setting.

Together we explore:

• how data and storytelling can transform healthcare,
• lessons from engaging staff
• the value of co-designing services with patients and service users, and
• the practical tools that can support your quality improvement efforts.

Join us to hear stories from Susan and Rob’s quality improvement journey. Whether you’re a seasoned QI professional or just starting out, there’s something here for everyone. Listen now to the full episode on all major podcast platforms.

Hosted by: Juanita Guidera, National Quality and Patient Safety, Health Service Executive

Produced by: Juanita Guidera, National Quality and Patient Safety, HSE and GKMedia.ie

Dr. Rob Cunney is a Consultant Microbiologist and QI/Clinical Audit Lead at Children's Health Ireland. He has long had an interest in quality improvement and patient safety, and is an alumnus of the Scottish Patient Safety Fellowship. His interest in the role of complexity in healthcare led him to discover Liberating Structures as a suite of tools to support improvement work and, in addition to regularly using these tools in his work, he teaches the use of Liberating Structures through in-person and online training workshops.

Susan O’Reilly, FFNMRCSI, is Assistant Director of Nursing for Dementia Quality Improvement for HSE Dublin and Midlands. From her role as lead nurse for the Genio funded project developing and implementing integrated care pathways for people living with dementia to her leadership of a QI collaborative to reduce harm from falls and pressure ulcers, Susan has a passion for enhancing practice through continuous quality improvement.

After completing her initial mental health nurse education in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview, she completed a BNSc degree and MSc Intellectual Disability Nursing (DCU), MSc by Research (RCSI), PG Dip (Dementia) (TCD), PG Dip (Advanced Practice) (UCD), PhD in DCU. Focused on person-centred, holistic care Susan has worked with older persons in a variety of clinical settings across mental health, intellectual disability, community, and acute care where she continues to influence practice through her involvement in several national working groups.

Listen to this episode with special guest Dr. Andy Phillips. Andy is a healthcare leader with coming up to forty years of international experience in health and social care settings around the world. He is currently the Regional Executive Officer, Health Service Executive South West, Ireland.

Join us as we explore key leadership considerations for developing a culture of quality including:

• how the social determinants of health are central to delivering health and wellbeing
• core factors for successful co-design of health and social care services
• the importance of permission and accountability in putting in place strong governance
• using insights from a quality dataset to support continual improvement.

If you’re interested in how leaders put in place systems of care that embed quality and patient safety, this podcast is for you.

Hosted by: Juanita Guidera, National Quality and Patient Safety, Health Service Executive

Produced by: Juanita Guidera, National Quality and Patient Safety, HSE and GKMedia.ie