Nigeria Healthcare Quality Improvement

Timeline: November 2017 – October 2020 | Status: Completed

Imo, Lagos, and Niger States, Nigeria

Project Overview

Access to healthcare alone does not guarantee better health outcomes—quality of care is equally important. Recognising the need to improve the standard of healthcare services delivered to Nigerians, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF), in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN), implemented the Nigeria Healthcare Quality Improvement (NHQI) project between November 2017 and October 2020.

The project was designed to strengthen quality improvement systems within healthcare facilities and support health providers in delivering safer, more effective, and patient-centred care. Implemented across Imo, Lagos, and Niger States, the initiative brought together government institutions, healthcare providers, and partners to promote continuous quality improvement as a core component of health service delivery.

By embedding quality improvement principles into routine healthcare delivery, the project contributed to building stronger health systems that consistently deliver better outcomes for patients and communities.

Healthcare facilities often face challenges that affect the consistency and quality of care, including variations in clinical practice, weak quality assurance systems, limited performance monitoring, and inadequate use of data to drive improvement.

Addressing these challenges required a systematic approach that strengthened both clinical and institutional capacity while fostering a culture of continuous learning and quality improvement across healthcare facilities.

HSDF worked collaboratively with government agencies, healthcare facilities, and development partners to institutionalise quality improvement within supported health systems. The project focused on:

Strengthening quality improvement systems within healthcare facilities.
Supporting the adoption of quality standards and best practices.
Building the capacity of healthcare managers and frontline providers.
Promoting routine performance measurement and continuous quality improvement.
Encouraging the use of data to identify gaps and guide service improvements.
Facilitating collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders to improve healthcare quality.