Is organizational progress in the EFQM model related to employee satisfaction?

Background: To determine whether there is greater employee satisfaction in organisations that have made more progress in implementation of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model.

Methods: A series of cross-sectional studies (one for each assessment cycle) comparing staff satisfaction survey results between groups of healthcare organisations by degree of implementation of the EFQM model (assessed in terms of external recognition of management quality in each organisation).

Setting: 30 healthcare organisations including hospitals, primary care and mental health providers in Osakidetza, the Basque public health service.