PGCert in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
The Postgraduate Certificate in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (PGCert) is a part-time taught course for healthcare professionals, focusing on systems thinking, human factors, and quality improvement methods to enhance patient care.
Closed to applications for entry in 2026-27. Register to receive an email when applications open (for entry in 2027-28).
- Expected length:
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- Part time: 1-2 years
- Expected start date:
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- Part time:
- English language level:
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- Higher level required
About the course
Please note that this course is currently delivered in collaboration by Oxford Lifelong Learning and Nuffield Department of Surgical Science. A department transfer, for the course to be delivered solely by Nuffield Department of Surgical Science from 2026/27, is currently progressing through the approval processes within the University. If you have any queries regarding this please contact the course administrator (See Further information and enquiries).
Course structure
The course can be completed in one year (though two years is possible), and consists of three modules, each a week long and taught in Oxford. The department provides online support and e-Library access for distance learning on either side of the Oxford-based weeks.
The course will appeal to doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, managers and others who have an interest in patient safety and quality improvement.
By taking the Postgraduate Certificate in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, you will gain a deeper understanding of the factors influencing patient safety, learn how to investigate safety problems and how to make care safer. You will also learn about quality improvement approaches and how to better understand our complex healthcare systems so as to improve quality of care across multiple domains, such as outcomes, patient experience and timeliness. You will gain an understanding of:
- How to take a broad, systems view of the care system you want to understand and improve, including how to develop insight into technical, human and organisational dimensions of an improvement or safety challenge
- The underlying principles behind the sometimes-confusing array of quality improvement methods, each with their own advocates and jargon, learning how these methods relate to one another and how they fit into an overarching model of quality improvement
- How to measure different aspects of quality and care systems
- Why changes that initially succeed will, more often than not, degrade over time – and what works to prevent this so that initial changes are sustained and further improvement can be built upon them
- Approaches for understanding and improving safety in healthcare including human factors, design and ergonomics
There is a growing evidence base that quality improvement and human factors-based projects in healthcare have real impact on clinical outcomes for patients. The University of Oxford has a strong research base in patient safety, and this course benefits from the researchers’ intensive collaboration with clinicians.
You will attend two core modules and one optional module.
Each module includes a period of preparatory study and one week of full time, face-to-face teaching in Oxford, which is then followed by a period for assignment work. The modules can be studied in any order and each module normally takes place once a year giving you the opportunity to individualise your patterns of study.
The taught week is an intensive week of seminar-style teaching, class discussions, guest lectures, interaction with tutors and lecturers, workshops and practical sessions.
In the four weeks running up to each taught week you should expect to dedicate 4-6 hours per week to preparatory reading. In the six weeks following each taught week you should expect to dedicate 10-15 hours per week to researching and writing your module assignment.
Core components
You will take two core modules.
Option modules
You will choose one option module.
Course details
Entry requirements
For entry in 2026-27