Our Improvement System is a way of working to support improvement and innovation across health and care in the North East and North Cumbria.
There are many methods and tools that can be used in productivity and improvement projects; however, this toolkit brings together a number of evidence based methods and tools that are being successfully used across our partnership.
A3 problem solving
A structured, one-page method for understanding problems, causes and actions - View A3 resource
A3 problem solving
Captures the current state, evidence and constraints – View A3 resource
A3 problem solving
Defines aims, target condition and measures of success – View A3 resource
A3 problem solving
Documents ideas and learning as solutions are explored – View A3 resource
You can use this toolkit to:
Boost is about supporting and facilitating, sharing best practice and creating a common language for improvement.
The changes you may be involved in could be at service level in your setting; a GP practice, acute or community services. Or, some of you may be involved in large-scale change projects, for example: redesigning a care pathway or developing Integrated Care Communities. The three elements of the transitional model above are vital factors, proven to work together to achieve effective and sustainable change. For any change, large or small, you need to know, what you are trying to improve (Vision), how you will know that a change is an improvement (Method – Improvement System), and how to take everyone with you (Culture – Our Compact).
The Improvement System is just one part of how we can successfully support change:
Underpinning our toolkit is ensuring that we see our services from the patient's perspective. Considering the value for our patients is the foundation stone for improving services. Patient value is a combination of their individual experience of a service together with the effectiveness and safety of the care they receive.
It is important that we balance the patient experience with safety and effectiveness of care. Most patients assume that they will receive a safe, effective service and it is only when it becomes apparent that this is not the case that they become aware. Therefore, patients often measure value most through their experience.
Ultimately, we want to provide the best experience, effective care and safe care to the people who use our services.
Patient involvement is key when looking to improve our services. To find out more about this, visit our Co-Production and Involvement Toolkit.
When embarking on any improvement, it is key that we listen and act on what’s important to our patients, this helps us to identify ‘value’. If we can understand what adds value, we can identify value in all our processes and pathways and maximise this whilst minimising activities that are wasteful or do not add value thus releasing time and reducing costs.
We can break it down into activities that add value to the patient, those that don’t add value but are necessary (for example statutory returns, storage of annual accounts), and those that are waste (for example searching for equipment and supplies). The aim is to reduce the value enabling activities and remove waste.
If we can do this, we can create more capacity to see patients and be more productive within existing resources.
