Health care leadership, quality and safety

Abstract

THIS ISSUE OF Australian Health Review started as part of a Festschrift to celebrate the work and leadership of Professor Mike Ward, currently Commissioner of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission in Queensland but previously inaugural Senior Director of the Clinical Practice Improvement Centre in Queensland Health and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland, as well as Commissioner of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. During his time at Queensland Health and in clinical practice, Mike made an outstanding contribution to health care in Queensland, recognised by the award of the Public Service Medal. Initially trained as a gastroenterologist, Professor Ward?s interest broadened to include organisational issues such as communication among teams, and how to measure and improve quality of care. He was particularly interested in methods of displaying data to highlight the underlying patterns in the information presented. Mike, not surprisingly for someone who occupied a professorial role, was also interested in the development of health professionals and played a key role in the creation and shaping of Queensland Health?s world renowned Skills Development Centre.