The Current Situation
Healthcare managers and executives are faced with a wide variety of challenges:
- Ensuring patients come to no harm
- Delivering effective outcomes
- Against a backdrop of shrinking budgets and rising expectations
- Whilst remaining compliant with Government mandates
Trusts generate a lot of raw data in the normal course of day-to-day activities. However, Trust executives and managers often lack the means to transform this mass of raw data into concise, accurate, actionable information
NHS Innovation and Improvement said it best: ‘Knowing How We’re Doing’ is the foundation stone.
Actionable information is what’s needed to begin and sustain a continuous improvement programme. Using the Deming Cycle of Plan, Do, Study and Act as shown in the diagram, knowledge and expertise can be transferred to improve overall performance. Improvements are measured, lessons are learned and the cycle starts again.