@article {Zhu286, author = {Hannah Zhu and Preety Das and Ralph Woodhouse and Haytham Kubba}, title = {Improving the quality of tracheostomy care}, volume = {10}, number = {4}, pages = {286--294}, year = {2014}, doi = {10.1183/20734735.011114}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Educational aims To understand the current challenges in the care of tracheostomy patients To understand principles of quality improvement collaboration and how this can improve the quality of care for tracheostomy patients Summary The UK National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death illustrates that there remains significant morbidity and mortality relating to patients with a tracheostomy, with much preventable harm. Challenges include the inherent complexity of the patient{\textquoteright}s underlying condition, wide variations in tracheostomy management, variable delivery of education for staff, patients and families, and difficult coordination of care between such a variety of individuals involved in performing, managing and ultimately removing tracheostomies. Quality-improvement collaboratives are groups of institutions with a common purpose who work together to drive positive change. They help support clinicians in developing skills and teams necessary to design and sustain quality-improvement cycles. They are a cost-effective way of rapidly disseminating improvement strategies and engaging in shared learning across institutions around the world. The Global Tracheostomy Collaborative aims to improve quality of care and outcomes through five interdependent key drivers: coordinated multidisciplinary team care, education, institution-wide protocols, family and patient-centred care, and metrics and outcomes using a specifically designed database.}, issn = {1810-6838}, URL = {https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/10/4/286}, eprint = {https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/10/4/286.full.pdf}, journal = {Breathe} }