National Health Service
Over a number of years, we have developed a particular specialism in working with NHS organisations on lean improvements. Each part of the NHS is different and there can be no generic approach other than working with the people involved to understand and improve the process. Recent projects include:
- Theatre instrument decontamination, including process mapping and simulation to understand the potential capacity of the process once waste is removed;
- Review of theatre instrumentation to try and reduce the complexity and range of instrument “sets” and, thus, control instrumentation costs and improve the process of supplying theatres across a region;
- In-hospital decontamination of endoscopes and other scopes, meeting the requirements of increasing the number of clinics and new decontamination standards;
- Process flow analysis and capacity review for the planning of central and local instrument decontamination units;
- In-hospital pharmacy processes, reducing the costs of wasted drugs and improving patient service.
Lean is not about making people work harder or faster, it is about identifying and removing the waste from the process. How long does it take a service to be completed in your oganisation? And how much of that time is spent on actual work? In a recent NHS example, a procedure took, on average 21 hours to complete. In 95% of cases the actual work took less than five hours; the rest was waiting time which served no purpose. By improving shift patterns, handovers and the availability of equipment, that waiting time can be greatly reduced – radically improving the service and its capacity to deal with clinical needs.
Five Step Approach to Lean Service Improvement
Our five step approach to lean service improvement applies equally in the NHS:
- Define the purpose and parameters of the service. Set strategic objectives;
- Identify and map the Value Streams that make up the services. Link Value Stream measure to the strategic objectives;
- Analyse the variations in customer demand and in service performance;
- Measure the flow through the Value Streams, and identify the waste. Simulate the service process if necessary;
- Work with the Value Stream team to remove the waste, eliminate rework, create pull, and improve the process.
Please contact us to discuss how we can help your part of the NHS improve its service, efficiency and capacity.