MSc in Quality and Safety in Healthcare Management
€13,750/€22,000
Gain the skills to lead quality improvement and patient safety initiatives while transforming healthcare delivery with advanced management strategies.
Masters
2 years
Online - Part-time
90 ECTS
September 2025
About
Enhance your career with the MSc in Quality and Safety in Healthcare Management from RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management.
This programme is designed to advance your management skills, supporting you to lead change projects addressing critical areas in healthcare settings. You'll explore the use of quality improvement tools and interventions specific to quality, safety and risk in the healthcare sector, and consider evidence-based solutions. Develop a critical understanding of safety culture, driven by learning and accountability.
After completion of the programme, you will be able to recognise the importance of organisational resilience, critical reflection and facilitated discussion and develop an awareness of the relationships between human factors, staff well-being and patient safety in the design, implementation and monitoring of quality and safety initiatives in all health services.
You will learn with a combination of self-paced online content and interactive live sessions. This is a two-year online degree programme delivered part-time.
Explore quality improvement tools and interventions
Gain insight into patient safety, quality, accreditation, and governance
Apply your skills with a practical change project
Suitable for
This programme is suitable for clinicians, interdisciplinary health and social care professionals, healthcare managers, administrators, and those in the wider healthcare sector aiming to develop their expertise in driving a high standard of quality and safety in healthcare.
What you will learn
Explore quality and safety concepts, paradigms, and dimensions, applying learning from errors and successful care
Develop team skills, use quality tools, and apply measurement techniques to enhance person-centred care
Discover leadership styles, design strategies, and apply case-based learning to real-world settings
Examine accreditation models, national and international standards, and enhance communication skills
Learn to implement quality services using governance, risk management, and incident reporting techniques
Gather, analyse, and present data for improvement, accountability, and research in quality and safety
Lead an organisational change project, producing significant improvements and cost savings in your setting
What our students say
"The teaching was practical and considered, and nothing was ever too complicated. The guest lecturers were enthusiastic, positive and always relevant. We’ve not only improved our own careers; we’ve also made life better for our patients."
Faculty highlight
Biography
Dr Siobhán McCarthy, Programme Director
Dr McCarthy’s current work focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to promote safety culture and quality improvement. She holds the position of Programme Director for MSc Quality & Safety in Healthcare Management at the Graduate School of Healthcare Management at RCSI.
Find out more
Register your interest
Course information
This programme will provide you with the skills and knowledge to:
- Develop as a reflective critical practitioner with the knowledge, insight and skills to determine the threats to quality and safety, and the contributory factors therein, and to identify appropriate evidence based solutions for different levels of the healthcare system.
- Develop knowledge of quality, safety, leadership and management competencies to enable you to lead teams to improve and assure healthcare standards.
- Develop skills in quality and safety planning, implementing, monitoring and measurement, including the management of accreditation processes, to proactively assure the quality and safety of care.
- Develop a critical understanding of safety culture, driven by learning and accountability, and how such a culture can be fostered and maintained; as part of a collective approach to governance alongside patients and public, ensuring that quality and safety improvement is underpinned by current policy and best practice.
- Demonstrate the ability to speak up and to question processes, policies and procedures as part of safety and improvement work.
- Develop confidence and skills in evaluating and applying quality and safety research and tools to the management of healthcare.
- Develop a strategic mindset and awareness of the relationship between human factors, staff wellbeing and patient safety in the design, implementation and monitoring of quality and safety initiatives in the health services.
- Recognise the importance of organisational resilience, critical reflection and facilitated discussion in individual and organisational learning from positive and negative events in healthcare.
The MSc in Quality and Safety in Healthcare Management will be facilitated in a digitally engaged format via our online teaching platform and will be delivered though a blend of online content and activities and live interactive sessions, to offer a collaborative and supportive student experience.
Our experienced team have the skills and technology to provide a rich and engaging online experience and will be on hand to smooth your course for success as you commence your studies, no matter what your level of technical ability.
You will have the opportunity to become part of an international, healthcare focused, learning community, as you are supported to engage through collaborative group work, team building and networking opportunities – benefiting from each other’s experience in a safe and supported environment.
| Module | Description |
| Module 1: Introduction to Quality & Safety in Healthcare (10 ECTS) | This module will provide you with an introduction to the concepts of quality and safety in healthcare within your national healthcare system. The paradigms of Safety I and Safety II are explored and models for learning from error and successful care are applied to practice. The evolution of quality and its pioneers are addressed, as are the catalysts and drivers for quality. The dimensions of quality, as viewed by key influential thinkers, are debated and applied to the various areas of practice.
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| Module 2: Tools & Frameworks for Quality (10 ECTS)
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This module will help you to further develop team working skills and use quality improvement methods to foster a culture of person-centred quality care. You will explore measurement for improvement techniques and the role of dynamic data in quality management. You will examine structure, process and outcome as key areas of safety and quality. Incorporating staff engagement techniques, you will systematically apply quality tools and techniques to your everyday work practice.
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| Module 3: Leadership & Strategic Management (10 ECTS)
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This module will explore different approaches to leadership and your preferred leadership style. You will learn how to design and implement strategy using a wide variety of tools to understand the external environment and assess the internal strengths and weaknesses of your organisation. You will further explore case based learning and will have an opportunity to apply learning to your setting.
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| Module 4: Accreditation & Standards (10 ECTS)
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In this module you will discuss the accreditation process as an external audit of quality. National and international systems will also be explored. Models of accreditation and standard setting will be examined for appropriateness and applied to your work setting. This module will also assist you to further develop your communication and influencing skills. You will be introduced to debate as a learning strategy in this module.
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| Module 5: Clinical Governance (10 ECTS)
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The focus of this module is on providing you with the knowledge and skills to implement a safe and quality service using a clinical governance approach. Clinical incident reporting, risk management, integrated care pathways and legal issues will be addressed. You will also gain the skills of poster presentation. Building on preceding modules, approaches to learning and implementing actions after events are addressed using scenario-based learning techniques will be explored.
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| Module 6: Evaluation Measurement & Research (10 ECTS)
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In this module, you will focus on how to gather, analyse, interpret and present data in the context of quality and safety. You will learn about using data for improvement, accountability and research. Audit, performance indicators, understanding variation and the use of research methods in quality improvement and safety monitoring are key topics. You will participate in an inter-professional quality improvement journal club and will learn how this model may be applied to practice. Activities draw on the principles of co-design and the habits of improvers.
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| Capstone Project (30 ECTS)
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In order to fulfil the requirements for an MSc Degree, you must complete the six modules outlined above and conduct a change management / organisational development project. This may incorporate an implementation science or quality improvement approach. The purpose of the project is twofold. Firstly, the project provides an opportunity for you to put into practice and demonstrate what you have learned in Year 1. We hope that you will further develop skills as a leader and manager by planning and /or implementing a real evidence based organisational development project within your work context. Secondly, we anticipate that the project will have a positive organisational impact contributing to improvements in the quality and safety of healthcare. The project also allows you to develop skills in implementing change, evaluating change projects and measuring organisational impact.
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The below timetable is provisional and subject to change.
A confirmed timetable for the 2025-26 academic year will be provided in due course.
| Semester | Module | Start date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orientation Module 1 Module 2 |
8 September 2025 22 September 2025 3 November 2025
|
| 2 | Module 3 Module 4 Module 5 |
5 January 2026 16 February 2026 30 March 2026 |
Assessments take the form of case studies, applied group and individual assignments, change projects, examinations and poster presentations.
We are proud to be a recognised University of the National University of Ireland (NUI). All RCSI programmes are accredited by the NUI.
Recognition by Ministries and bodies in all jurisdictions must be determined by the individual applicants.
We are pleased to confirm that a number of our recent graduates, that are domiciled in the United Arab Emirates and in the Kingdom of Bahrain, have successfully had their certificates recognised by the Ministry of Education in their respective countries.
Admissions
To be eligible for the programme you must:
- Hold a bachelor degree. If you don’t hold a bachelor degree, please see the recognition of prior learning pathway outlined below.
- Be working in the healthcare industry.
- Meet the English language requirements (unless exempt): IELTS score of 6.5, Duolingo 105-110, or equivalent score on another standardised test. Please see below for list of exemptions.
If you do not have an undergraduate degree at level 7 or above you may still be eligible to apply through recognition of prior learning (RPL). RPL is the assessment of knowledge, skills and competence previously acquired.
Learning occurs in many contexts which include work, involvement in social and community activities, or learning through life experience generally. RPL does not give credit for experience as such; rather it considers the learning that was acquired as a result of the experience.
RPL may be used to gain:
- Admission to courses/programmes where a person may not have obtained the standard entry requirements.
- Exemptions from course modules which duplicate the learning outcomes an individual has already demonstrably acquired through prior learning.
Exemptions may apply for:
- If you have completed your school or undergraduate studies (three or more years) through English in a country where English is the majority native language
- If you have completed your school or undergraduate studies (three or more years) in an English speaking institution in a country where English is not the majority native language and where an IELTS score of 5 or more was a requirement for admissions to the programme
- If you have been working in a country (three years or more) where English is the majority native language or for an employer where English language is the official language
- Graduates of an RCSI undergraduate, masters or professional diploma programme in Dublin and Bahrain.
Please note: Certified proof must be uploaded as part of your application.
EU applicants
- Year 1: €8,800
- Year 2: €4,950
Non-EU applicants
- Year 1: €14,000
- Year 2: €8,000
| Year 1 | Date | EU | Non-EU |
| First payment | On acceptance of offer | €2,200 | €3,500 |
| Second payment | 30 November 2025 | €2,200 | €3,500 |
| Third payment | 31 January 2026 | €2,200 | €3,500 |
| Fourth payment | 31 March 2026 | €2,200 | €3,500 |
| Year 2 | Date | EU | Non-EU |
| First payment | 12 September 2026 | €2,475 | €4,000 |
| Second payment | 31 January 2027 | €2,475 | €4,000 |
Please note:
- Fee includes all resources, access to our award-winning online learning portal and access to extensive RCSI-only databases.
- Fee includes an NUI fee.
- Fee is payable via the above schedule, where relevant.
- If you have outstanding fees you will not be entitled to receive your grades or be eligible to progress and or graduate (VLE and Library privileges will be withdrawn in these cases).
- RCSI accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof, in respect of a student who chooses to withdraw from a programme.
- If you choose to withdraw from a programme you are liable for full fees owed for the seat on that programme.
- All NUI parchments are issued in Latin; you will be required to pay an additional fee of €50 to NUI if you wish to have a parchment published in English.
- Fees are subject to review annually.
- If you are being sponsored or funded by your employer you should upload a funding confirmation letter in the document upload section on the application portal.
How to apply
Applications for the MSc in Quality and Safety in Healthcare Management are now open for autumn 2025. There is only one intake each year, starting in September.
Please ensure to attach the following supporting documents with your application:
- Clear copy of a valid passport.
- Copies of your academic transcripts/degree
- Copy of your CV
- English proficiency test (If required)
Already begun your application? Complete it via our application portal now.
Continue your application