Process Improvement to Support Elective Recovery

Post-Covid recovery of elective services is a major priority for the NHS. The delivery plan for tackling the backlog of elective care emphasises four priorities:

·         increasing capacity and throughput;

·         prioritising treatment, clinically and for long waits;

·         transforming elective provision through improved pathways;

·         and better support for patients including information and personalisation.

Throughout the plan there is an emphasis on efficient ways of working that free up capacity and make the best possible use of staff skills, time and experience. National support programmes, such as GIRFT (www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/bpl/hvlc/">Getting it Right First Time) and Elective Care Improvement Support, are promoting such improvements across elective pathways. Improvements will focus on some of the most common types, and highest volumes, of care including eye care and musculoskeletal services. The scale of the task means that every minute counts.

Process improvement methods that focus explicitly on freeing up time and capacity might help. With its focus on improving and reducing time-based, process wastes, Lean provides process improvement concepts and tools that could be highly effective in supporting the NHS to achieve high priority goals to increase capacity, free up clinical time and reduce avoidable delays.

The first of its kind in the NHS, our www.england.nhs.uk/sustainableimprovement/lea...-fundamentals/">Lean Fundamentals massive-online programme introduces foundational process improvement tools through a practical, structured learning-in-action approach that can be applied immediately to deliver focussed improvement projects. The programme has already supported improvement in vaccination processes to increase throughput and recovery of a paediatric service waiting list (see examples below). Example areas of elective recovery focus that process improvement and www.england.nhs.uk/sustainableimprovement/lea...-fundamentals/">Lean Fundamentals could support include:

·         Improving theatre time through streamlining turnaround processes (such as for non-complex cataract surgery)

·         Increasing outpatient clinic throughput (such as for intravitreal eye injections)

·         Maximising operation time (such as for hip and knee procedures)

The programme has been developed by NHS England and NHS Improvement’s www.england.nhs.uk/sustainableimprovement/">Improvement Capability Building & Delivery (ICBD) Group by experienced process improvement practitioners and technology-enhanced-learning experts. It comprises six, one-hour content modules available 24/7 over an eight-week period to support health and care staff to implement rapid process improvement.

You can work through the modules at your own pace and interact with peers and expert faculty through the learning platform to maximise your learning and enhance your ability to rapidly apply Lean process improvement tool and concepts in practice.

The next instance of Lean Fundamentals will be running from 9^th May to 3^rd July. To enrol please visit www.qilearning.england.nhs.uk

For more information please visit: https://www.england.nhs.uk/sustainableimprovement/lean-online/lean-fundamentals/