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RCPCH EQIP - Epilepsy Quality Improvement Programme

Quality improvement team
The RCPCH Epilepsy Quality Improvement Programme (EQIP) ran from June 2019 to 2024 as the first paediatric epilepsy QI collaborative in England and Wales. It supported epilepsy service teams in England and Wales to identify and implement sustainable improvements within their services for children and young people with epilepsy.
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»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË RCPCH EQIP

The Epilepsy Quality Improvement Programme (EQIP) was the first quality improvement (QI) initiative supporting paediatric epilepsy care. It was managed by RCPCH and funded by NHS England and Welsh government in 2019- 20, then recommissioned in 2021 by the NHS England Children and Young People (CYP) transformation team. 

From 2019 until the programme ended in 2024, and over four 'waves', EQIP trained and supported 49 paediatric epilepsy service teams (including more than 200 NHS staff), to deliver QI in their local services. 

Epilepsy is one of the most common long-term conditions in children and young people in the UK. It was identified as one of the priorities for improvement of effective and coordinated care in the NHS Long Term Plan. 

Our impact

In August 2024, we published our EQIP impact report 2019-23. This details how incremental changes and whole-team training have enhanced patient care, reduced wait times, addressed mental health challenges and improved outcomes for children and young people in paediatric epilepsy services. The report includes case studies from the participating teams, as well as top tips and lessons learned.

In September 2024, we published our summary report of the last year of the programme.

We also have evaluation reports for each of the four EQIP waves.

See EQIP impact, summary and evaluation reports

Case studies

EQIP's dedicated website provided participating teams with many QI resources. This site also features case studies from the teams on their local service improvements, covering many themes such as transition pathways, improving patient engagement, reducing variation via standardising processes and developing mental health support pathways. 

Benefits

EQIP aimed to help service teams identify sustainable improvements in care provided for children and young people with epilepsy. It provided free, practical, hands-on training and comprehensive support helping teams to:

  • achieve new skills and knowledge on QI methodology and how to make incremental changes
  • gain a greater understanding of how to become a high-performing, cohesive team
  • develop lasting sustainable QI practices within your paediatric epilepsy service
  • learn new approaches and how to engage effectively with patients and families 
  • network and share learning with other teams in England and Wales in a safe learning space
  • showcase achievements via EQIP shared learning events and other RCPCH events
  • receive a completion certificate for all individual team members, for continuing professional development.

More about how EQIP worked

Paediatric epilepsy service teams and their Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) were invited to submit an application to join EQIP (over four waves). Once selected, the multidisciplinary teams joined an in-person initial training event to meet the EQIP project team and network with other participant teams.

Over the following eight months, teams were offered monthly bitesize training videos and virtual webinars. There was monthly one-to-one coaching with our expert QI facilitators to help them set and achieve their QI projects.

At the end of each wave, teams showcased their projects' outcomes to other EQIP teams and the wider epilepsy community at our shared learning event. We uploaded a wealth of resources, templates and recorded webinars to our microsite, with some content only available to EQIP teams. 

Our short videos from the programme help to illustrate this. 

From the EQIP training in 2023
From the pilot EQIP training weekend in 2019

Participation in EQIP required time and energy - this was sometimes hard to find when stretched by the requirements of day-to-day service delivery! But teams found that putting in the work at the start of their journey often helped them find ways to make positive change with less effort, and more impact, later on. 

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