No Harm Done Podcast: Recent Episodes
No Harm Done Podcast
A podcast about improving, exploring, understanding and getting on with healthcare safety and quality
- QQ (Quality Quandary) (Time 1:00) Measuring Safety Culture Unlike reading a safety culture policy which gives us an ideal picture, safety culture asks the questions that tell us what’s really going on. A resource-heavy segment with tools to help you answer the board’s question: what do we know about our culture?ACSQHC A-HSOPS 2.0: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/indicators-measurement-and-reporting/patient-safety-culture...
This episode showcases useful toolkits for improving care and services in any sector. Simple. 1. THE POINT (Time: 1:30) Everyone deals with complaints and there is both an art and a science to it. We look at complaint handling resources from Victoria that are useful for all human service sectors. The Victorian Ombudsman’s practice guides...
We’re kicking off a new season. Why? Because we want to! You’ll find some new segments and old favourites – and a fair bit of fearless facing of AI in improvement and clinical governance. In Ep 1 you’ll find a reinforcement on what leaders want in a quality management system; a reminder about the cost/quality...
Life Rewards Action (whether it’s wardrobes, email or org-wide culture change…) Worried about your ‘culcha’? See your CEO and board earnestly nodding about ‘improving’ culture/creating a ‘culture of quality’ – and then looking expectantly at you? Don’t break out the powerpoint: we have the good oil on the practicalities of shifting culture for happier staff...
- QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 0.15) We’ve all been in this Quandary: how to get those docs to engage in improvement? No magic wands here but some useful tips that go beyond ‘Pleeeeeeese!’ Thinking about what they need before what you need is a great start. Jones B, Vaux E, Olsson-Brown A. How to get started...
- The Point (Time: 00:15) The evidence is in! Consumers are invaluable on patient safety investigations. From April 2025, the latest Hibbert research – Perceptions and Experiences of Consumer Representatives on Patient Safety Investigation Teams: A Qualitative Analysis. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hex.70281 2. QUALITY HACK (Time: 16:15) We’ve all heard loads of bright ideas for remembering names –...
- TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read – or Too Long Must Read, for our Victorian listeners – for this particular document!) (Time: 1:05) No more ‘safe, high-quality care’, and the improvement cycle gets a makeover. What sorcery is this? It’s The Safer Care Victoria Victorian Clinical Governance Framework! https://www.safercare.vic.gov.au/publications/victorian-clinical-governance-framework 2. DRDR (Did Read, Do Read)...
Getting to ‘consistently good’ requires systematic thinking from the logical part of your brain – and a system to back it up. But this won’t happen unless the ‘elephant’ part of your brain wants to go there. Improving care and service quality is a whole-of-brain workout! 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 0:45) No, you’re not wrong...
Everything old is new again – but with added features! Dignity of risk, spread and scale, negotiating for success – all with fresh clothes but a traditional skeleton. 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 00:40) A Wicked Problem: managing consumer focus, dignity and risk. (And doesn’t it sound familiar?) Hillman A, Tadd W, Calnan S, Calnan M,...
When we get hold of it, of course! Plus some excellent evidence on the effectiveness component of aged care quality that could use some more attention – and a tip for improving the consumer experience that costs nothing in time, effort or $$$. 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 00:40) Care Track Aged Care Study Hibbert, P.D.,...
‘Episode 18.5′ is a bit like ‘Platform 9 and 3/4’ – something special we want to let our lovely listeners in on! QualityClub is happening in 2025 from Feb-July – and we enthusiastically invite you to join us! Run by career quality managers and directors, and hosts of No Harm Done Balding and Jones, QualityClub aims to...
How much QI is too much? Does accreditation work? What’s in a title? These and other random questions are answered right here! 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 00:30 ) Building Improvement Capacity and Capability with the Dosing Approach https://www.ihi.org/insights/building-improvement-capacity-and-capability-dosing-approach 2. DRDR (Time: 5:40) The Essential Guide to Understanding and Working With Clinical Indicators Jan Main. Defining...
We face up to the fact that not everyone is sleepless with excitement about our agenda – so how to have people running towards you, and your working and consumer groups, rather than away? And – lets’ look on the bright side for a change! 1. INTRO We discussed ‘VirtualCB’ here: Check her out!: https://www.delphi.ai/cathybalding)...
We certainly thought so! Plus getting the most out of consumer engagement for everyone involved; and we know that good post-discharge care requires solid discharge summaries, but they’re looking a bit wobbly. 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 1:25) How will AI and Quality Leaders interact? Hilariously, if this segment is any indication. (BTW, we recorded this...
Cementing the governance and leadership role in good care; using incident analysis differently and livening up those policies (so people actually follow them!) 1. TLDR (Time: 0.45 ) A Dive into the Impact of Governance and Leadership on Quality of Care Fulop, N., & Ramsay, A. (2023). Governance and Leadership (Elements of Improving Quality and...
This ep we’re draining swamps and hacking mindsets – and you thought this was a podcast about improving quality… 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 01:10) Draining the Root Cause Swamp Trbovich P, Shojania KG. Root-cause analysis: swatting at mosquitoes versus draining the swamp. BMJ Quality & Safety 2017;26:350-353. https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/26/5/350 2. The Point (Time: 11:10) Carer Reported Outcome Measures Jeyasingam N,...
In this ep we look at the reasons behind the struggle (behind the grind, behind the slog) for improvement (and it’s probably got nothing to do with you); as well as how to build psychological safety and communication again, again, again… Vaughn VM, et al. Characteristics of healthcare organisations struggling to improve quality: results from...
It was inevitable – NHD wades into AI for a bit of ChatQI. 1. Intro (Time: 00:25) We don’t often include the intro in the shownotes, but as we banged on about ChatGPT and its deep understanding of quality manager challenges… https://chat.openai.com/auth/login 2. QUALITY QUANDARY (Time: 6.45) How will Artificial Intelligence affect healthcare? https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/transforming-healthcare-with-ai 3....
More delving into the nuts and bolts of effective partnering with consumers to make things better. And we found a facilitators playground for you to play in! 1. The (TLDR) Point! (Time: 1:00) Top evidence-based tips for partnering with consumers to improve care and services. Cochrane gathered the evidence so we – or you –...
We know – it’s obvious. So why is it so rare to see consumer and staff satisfaction addressed in tandem? 1. QQ (Quality Quandary) (Time:1:20) Putting Consumers First and Staff First Too! Successful improvement requires both consumers and staff to get something positive out of the process. But this too often gets forgotten. Lawton R, Thomas EJ....
There’s a lot riding on quality manager skills – in this ep we discuss what it takes to be great, as well as picking out a couple of essential tasks: building change readiness and making Community/Care Advisory Committees successful. 1. QQ (Quality Quandary) (Time: 1:29) How to Build a Quality Manager What are the essential...
OK, sometimes we miss The Point. We just can’t fit the segment into every podcast, with our new abbreviated second season format. But sit back and relax – this entire episode is The Point! (Also – don’t sit back & relax if you’re driving. Keep your back straight, your mind alert and hands on the...
We look at the Comprehensive Care Standard and Aged Care Star Ratings – transformative changes in the name of quality. Are these ‘stars’ in the improvement galaxy making a difference? 1. QQ – Quality Quandary (Time: 1.45) Can Quality Ratings help you shoot for the quality stars? From December, Australian aged care homes will receive...
Education on its own doesn’t make a lot of difference to behaviour – so why do we persist with making it our central change management tactic? We also look at aged care loneliness and a toolkit for designing great consumer experiences – with the people who’ll experience them! All really different – but interesting; and...
Patient Safety ‘intelligence’ in Consumer Feedback Gillespie A, Reader TW. Online patient feedback as a safety valve: An automated language analysis of unnoticed and unresolved safety incidents. Risk Analysis, August, 2022. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/risa.14002 2. TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) (Time: 13:10) NSQHSS User Guide for Mental Health Services Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health...
From spreading to embedding Scarbrough, Harry; Kyratsis, Yiannis. From spreading to embedding innovation in health care: Implications for theory and practice. Health Care Management Review: 7/9 2022 – Volume 47 – Issue 3 – p 236-244 doi: 10.1097/HMR.0000000000000323 Previous No Harm Done episodes on change: Episode 5: ‘Small Change’ – http://noharmdonepodcast.com/podcast/nhd-episode-5-small-change/ Episode 12: ‘Change – What...
We’re back! – for Season 2. Looking forward to more human services’ quality revelations, lessons, ruminations – and fun! Shorter episodes will cover 3-4 of our favourite segments in bite-size chunks! 1. Quality Quandary (Time: 1:50) Do quality indicators predict quality assessment ratings? Allen T, Walshe K et al. Do performance indicators predict regulator ratings...
We’re back! – for Season 2. Looking forward to more human services’ quality revelations, lessons, ruminations – and fun! Shorter episodes will cover 3-4 of our favourite segments in bite-size chunks! 1. The Point (Time: 2:30) Impact on care quality of consumers accessing their Electronic Health Records Neves AL, Freise L, Laranjo L, et al. Impact of providing patients access...
We all have them, we all need them, we all suffer in them (at times). Necessary evil or force for good, it’s time to delve into the good, bad and ugly of meetings. And in an ironic tribute to poorly chaired meetings, we have somehow let this podcast go 5 minutes over time. Sorry! 1....
It’s time to dive into the Aged Care Royal Commission Report – well, the quality and clinical/care governance bits, anyway… 1. QUALITY QUANDARY: (time 8:20) Can RC findings on Q&S in aged care be applied to all human service sectors? So, another massive report on safety and quality in the human services’ sector. Can the...
Ep 30 is a little different! – it was originally recorded as a videocast for the Australian Safety and Quality Commission’s online program series: Better Care Everywhere, Healthcare Variation in practice – basically a conference held live online in February 2021, and later on demand. We explore ways to ‘vanish’ unwarranted clinical variation as part...
We know that compassion and alleviating pain and symptoms generally feature high on consumers’ wish lists. But do healthcare providers feel that the latter is more useful than the former? There’s plenty of science now that suggests that this is the wrong way around. There are many examples, backed by randomised control trials, of compassion...
We’re revisiting the gnarly topic of change – this is our third ep on the subject, because there is so much to unpack! And because there is only one way to improve – and that is to change – successfully. And because the stats say we’re still struggling with this. This time we focus on...
Culture – we talk about it constantly. And Patient Safety Culture – we all know what that is – right? And how to create it? This episode delves into the patient safety culture world to look for answers to common – but tricky – questions about the whys and hows of a patient safety culture....
There are a few sacred cows in the world of quality improvement – as there are in any sector. This episode takes a closer look at some of those cows – to reveal they aren’t so sacred after all. 1. QUALITY QUANDARY Our QQ for this episode reminds us that accepted norms and truths may...
As we keep saying, ‘quality’ is about way more than accreditation. But is it also about accounting? Get the quality right and the dollars will follow, so they say. Or will they? 1. QUALITY QUANDARY Our QQ for today reminds us that sometimes it ‘pays’ to show management that quality improvement is handy for more...
Ep 24 is a special NHD edition that explores the pandemic from the perspective of healthcare administration, evidence based care and planning. (Otherwise known as the ‘Zoomami’ edition. Advance apologies for the Zoom recording quality which is a little echo-y.) 1. QUARANTINE QUANDARY (3:34) We wade through tales of pandemic planning and execution, through the...
In Ep 23, everything old is new again. We delve into management theories from 100 years ago that not only have relevance for change and improvement in 2020 – but are often wrapped up in shiny paper and touted as new. And why does a change in CEO bring a quality system to a grinding...
Ep 22 finds Jones and Balding cogitating on value based care. What’s it all about? Is it a fad? Old thinking wrapped up in new language? Or is it exactly what we need to break through to next level care and service quality? We shall see… 1. QUALITY QUANDARY (4:26) What is value in health and...
Jones and Balding take a walk on the quality bright side. What do the improvement experts say about our relentless focus on removing defects to achieve quality care? How could this be applied to all health and human services – including aged care and the recommendations emanating from the Royal Commission? 1. QUALITY QUANDARY: ACCENTUATE...
In this episode we discuss the upsides of failure for learning and improvement – and just to show that we’re serious, we conduct our own failure experiment… QQ (Quality Quandary): FAILURE! Course Corrections: How Health Care Innovators Learn from Setbacks to Achieve Success. Klein S, Hostetter M, McCarthy D. New York: The Commonwealth Fund; 2019....
Welcome to No Harm Done! – a podcast about improving, managing, monitoring and getting on with quality and safety in health and human services. In this episode we unpack more components of leading and managing quality improvement, including tips for working with doctors, reinforcing the key role of consumer input and partnerships, project management, a...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode18: All About Accreditation In this ep we wander the accreditation maze, looking for clues. Does it work? Do consumers have a role? Can it be managed without light years of stress? And find out how relatives and friends ‘protect’ their loved ones in hospital – this we must do something about… QQ: ( QUALITY QUANDARY) – The Triple A (All About Accreditation) 21:00 Swiers R, Haddock R. Assessing the value of accreditation to health service organisations. Deeble Institute Evidence Brief No. 18, Canberra: Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association; 2019. p. 20 https://ahha.asn.au/publication/health-policy-evidence-briefs/evidence-brief-no-18-assessing-value-accreditation-health NSQHSS Workbook: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/migrated/National-Safety-and-Quality-Health-Service-Standards-Accreditation-Workbook.pdf NSQHSS Monitoring Tool: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/NSQHS-Standards-2nd-ed-monitoring-tool-for-hospitals.xlsx...
WELCOME TO NO HARM DONE! In this episode, Jones and Balding revisit the thorny and vexed area of quality measurement – but this time we have the good sense to call in the experts – well, one expert, anyway. Cousin David joins us – that’s David Balding, Professor of Statistical Genetics at the University of Melbourne, and Director of Melbourne Integrative Genomics. We think he’ll keep up! QUALITY QUANDARY: Are we as good – or as bad – as we think we are??? We discuss Don Berwick’s recent rant about measurement and get an outsider’s perspective on whether we’ve got it completely wrong or not....
WELCOME TO NO HARM DONE! In this episode we examine engaging with consumers from a few different perspectives, Jones gives some super productive tips for being super productive, and we answer a lovely listener FAAAQQ about how to enrapture staff with clinical governance – in 15 minutes! QUALITY QUANDARY: Let’s Get Engaged – with consumers! There’s a lot of material around about consumer engagement – in this episode we explore it from a few angles. 2:00 NHS use of PROMS...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 15 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we get proactive about Risk Management in RM Part 2 – ‘Safety 2’ – as our Quality Quandary and TLDR. What’s it all about? In Quality Hacks, Balding describes how to develop your story using...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 14 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we muse over appropriateness and effectiveness. 0:00 QUALITY QUANDARY: The QQ is a big issue we unpack, argue about, talk about conflicting perspectives etc. This time we ponder: what is appropriateness, what is effectiveness, and...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 13 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we wade into the clinical risk management swamp where danger lurks… What would you like us to talk about next? Send us a message below! 1:00 Quality Quandary The QQ is a big issue we unpack,...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 12 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we S-P-R-E-A-D change! What would you like us to talk about next? Send us a message below! 0:00 QQ: Our ‘QUALITY QUANDARY’ in this ep is ‘Change: Embed and Spread.’ No-one seems to have nailed this...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 11 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this ep we talk and talk and talk about public speaking and presentations, as well as facilitation tips & activities for workshops. What would you like us to talk about next? Send us a message below! ...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 10 – we made it! – hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode, we muse over the slow progress of change and doing the same things and expecting a different result. And then – trying some different things for better results, and ideas for...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 9 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this ep we revisit seven important habits, spotlight the role of kindness in human services and discuss data nerd delights such as the best data display styles and the value of process data – or not. What would...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 8 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this ep we take a slightly quirky look at leadership and how recent research relates to leading human services care quality improvement; as well as performance warning bells, the simplicity and importance of introductions and a listener...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 7 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. Most of this episode is dedicated to grappling with the big, hairy issue of cost and quality. Understanding a bit about this can help a lot with getting high quality care high on the executive agenda! We also...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 6 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we cycle around the quality cycle: PDCA / PDSA – as our Quality Quandary. What does it really mean? We discuss doing something useful with data from patient surveys, and whether or not electronic medical records...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 5 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we dive into ‘change’ as our Quality Quandary. It’s got to involve more than policy and education to stick! Plus we discuss the barriers to successful quality improvement in Dr Dr and Wrangling Quality explores what makes...
Welcome to No Harm Done Episode 4 hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. In this episode we zoom in on data as our Quality Quandary. Adverse events. Complications. Audit. Public reporting. What does it all mean? Plus we discuss the advantage of getting rid of rules in Dr Dr and The Point considers...
Welcome to Episode Three of “No Harm Done”, hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. Includes the usual segments Quality Quandary, The Point, TLDR and DrDr, as well as a couple of new ones: Wrangling Quality and Cracking Quality. What would you like us to talk about next? Send us a message...
We’re back! – for another episode of “No Harm Done”, hosted by Cathy Balding and Cathy Jones, from Melbourne, Australia. This episode unpacks some different perspectives on patient centred care, with segments Quality Quandary, TLDR, Latest News, DrDr, Quality Myths and FAAAQQS. What would you like us to talk about next? Send us a message!...
This is the first episode of “No Harm Done”, a podcast about improving, exploring, understanding and getting on with healthcare safety and quality. This podcast is designed to give you tips and ideas and hopefully to save you time if you’re working in the area of quality & risk management. Hosted by Cathy Balding and...