Now Is The Time To Accelerate In Community Services

Community Services are less prepared for any reduction in funding that many other healthcare organisations. There are also many opportunities to innovate and improve the efficiency within the services. The transformation that has gone on with primary care over the last few years, from mergers to the seperation of commissioning and provider arms has created many new challenges for community service organisations and meant that their investment in building robust and efficient processses has slowed in many areas.

The time is now for community service organisations to transform the way they deliver services if they are to be ready for the expected  funding squeeze. Some of the success will come from the creation of an effective improvement strategy that focuses on the identification of needs and opportunities for efficiency gains, but this will have to be coupled with the effective implementation of change, and all of this done is around the same time (or less) than organisations have taken to create their new organisations.

Are they up for the challenge? Time will tell who was and who wasn’t ready…………and those who start working on it now will be in the front of the pack.

To find out how we can help contact us on 0870-446-1002 or email info@amnis.uk.com.

Visit our website: www.amnis.uk.com

Recognising different Lean People in Healthcare

It is important to recognise that within a Lean Healthcare programme you will need to have a variety of people performing different roles. The numbers will depend heavily on the rate or pace of change you are looking to achieve but the groups can broadly be broken down into four as follows:

Lean Leaders – Those who lead the overall transformation programme, can lead intensive programmes of activity, can train other Lean Practitioners and have overall responsibility for the Lean Strategy in collaboration with the board.

Lean Practitioners – Practitioners can either be ‘newly qualified’ or ‘experienced hands’ as described below:

(a) – Experienced practitioners should be able to handle reasonably complex projects, develop individual strategies for Lean and run all types of Lean events.

(b) – New practitioners will be familiar with all types of Lean events and probably able to run simple Value Stream Mapping and Rapid Improvement Events. They will also be able to undertake training activities for participants and the ‘Lean Aware’.

Lean Participants – These have the skills to participate successfully in Lean events.

Lean Aware – Everyone else should have an awareness of Lean, how they can get involved and what the plan of work will be.

For more details of the behaviours, capabilities, experience and training that each group should have contact Amnis on +44 (0) 870 446 1002 or email info@amnis.uk.com.

Process and people – not tools – are the keys to healthcare improvement

Research by the specialist healthcare quality, innovation and productivity improvement enabler, Amnis, highlights the value of focusing on process of transformation and engaging people rather than ‘tools’ and ‘events’ in order to bring about lasting performance improvements.

According to research by the specialist healthcare quality, innovation and productivity improvement enabler, Amnis, healthcare organisations can make the mistake of becoming fixated on using tactical tools to produce performance improvement – such as those found in Lean programmes, including 5S and Value Stream Mapping – when they should be focusing on process and people in order to bring about lasting transformation and change.

Amnis’ extensive work in the healthcare and other sectors has shown that the key to long-term success is to concentrate on developing the right strategy for the transformation programme – including identifying the overall process you will use and the steps to be taken – as well as engaging the front-line teams and then keeping them engaged.

Davinder Virdi, director of strategy at Amnis, said: “There are many healthcare organisations which have used the Lean tools and similar approaches, such as Six Sigma, to address low level, tactical issues. However, our studies show that this approach nearly always fails to engage clinicians and that it is also difficult to link the resulting low level improvements to the organisation’s overall transformation strategy, meaning that nothing really changes.

“Being clear about the problems that need to be tackled – by engaging and continuing to maintain a dialogue with front-line teams as well as having a robust structure and strategy for improvement – leads to improvements that are better aligned with the organisational strategy,” he revealed.

Mark Eaton, Amnis’ managing director, added: “Our studies have shown that doing this leads to performance improvements that are more sustainable. Increasingly, senior teams are asking us to share this knowledge and to help them link their improvement activities to their overall strategy.”

For more information about Amnis’ work and research contact them at info@amnis.uk.com or call 0870 446 1002.

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About Amnis Limited

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in innovation, transformation and organisational improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.

Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team includes specialists in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.

Further information from:

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Passion before Methodology or Tools

Before considering whether Lean 5S, Rapid Improvement Events or Value Stream Mapping is the right approach to solving a problem it is more important to develop a passion for solving the problem among at least the largest percentage of those affected possible.

Whilst it is rarely possible to achieve 100% support for any form of transformation, achieving at least acceptance from the 80%+ and passion from at least 50%+ is key to long term success in transformation. Unfortunately, many healthcare organisations have been pushed into doing Rapid Improvement Events and VSAs far too quickly as they have not spent enough time clarifying the problem, identifying the real needs and engaging the team before they launch into an intense programme of transformation.

At a strategic level, organisations often fail to also engage their senior teams and boards and struggle to generate a passion for transformation in this important area, and this means that when problems arise the support from the top is missing.

Many a transformation programme in healthcare has stalled, under-achieved or simply failed because of a lack of passion felt by those affected. Whilst an enthusiastic and passionate programme lead is important, passion from the team is even more so and is definately far more important than the tool or methodology that you will use to fix the problem.

For more information on how you can generate passion within your organisation for change contact us via info(a)amnis.uk.com.

More than achieving 18 weeks, it is now about sustaining it……

Whilst many NHS organisations managed to achieve the required performance for 18 weeks in 2008, the resurgence of organisations looking to redesign their clinical pathways demonstrates that achieving it is one thing but sustaining it is significantly harder to achieve.

More than ‘flash in the pan’ Rapid Improvement Events, the need for long term changes in behaviours and systems is required to achieve long-term change in the way healthcare organisations work. All aspects of QIPP (Quality, Innovation, Productivity & Prevention) need to be tackled to ensure that any work done does not fizzle out a few weeks after completion.

Whilst a few organisations we work with are now starting the drive to achieve 16 weeks (and in one case 14 weeks) from referral to treatment, we are seeing a growing number of healthcare organisations looking to make real change in the way their 18 week pathways work simply due to the fact that either capacity and demand are not in balance or the underlying problems and inconsistencies in the pathway were not tackled with completely and continue to drag down performance.

To achieve long-term success in 18 weeks requires a focus on redesigning the pathway, but more importantly a focus on continuous improvement, communications and a clear, shared sense of purpose.

For more information about how we can help you sustain 18 weeks contact us at info(a)amnis.uk.com.

Healthcare organisations urged: “‘Don’t give up on ‘Lean'”

Healthcare organisations – including hospitals – are giving up too soon on ‘Lean’ based improvement initiatives, according to specialist healthcare quality, innovation and productivity improvement enabler, Amnis.

Amnis’ Mark Eaton, explained: “A number of improvement initiatives underway in the healthcare sector are based on the concepts of ‘Lean’ and ‘Lean Sigma’ but, like many organisations in manufacturing where Lean has its origins, there is already evidence that some healthcare organisations are giving up on these initiatives before they realise real results or are simply changing processes and doing nothing to change the underlying culture and behaviours.”

According to Eaton – author of the book ‘Lean for practitioners’ – the top five reasons why this happens are:

1. Lean is not a Board issue but, instead, is launched at divisional or even individual department level. This leads rapidly to fragmentation of activity and dissipation of effort.

2. Not ensuring that the productivity improvements expected through Lean are aligned with the organisation’s objectives. This leads to Lean being ‘out prioritised’ by other activities and put on hold and, once it is on hold, it is one step from being mothballed.

3. Not building on previous experience. This is where Lean tries to undo all of the good things that have gone on – and are currently going on – and this builds resentment from frontline teams.

4. Building reliance on external consultancies or agencies. Building internal capability and, even more importantly, involving a healthcare organisation’s frontline teams, is the only way to get Lean out of the textbook and into the clinic.

5. Many organisations simply give up when they encounter problems, resistance or changing priorities because they have not built up the resilience that is needed to get through the initial period of turbulence.

“Starting out by treating Lean as a Board level issue, approaching it in a flexible manner and recognising the difference between changing processes and changing behaviours are the keys to long-term success,” said Eaton.

To help organisations to understand how Lean helps drive improvements in quality, innovation and productivity, Amnis runs a number of workshops for executives and front-line teams – including its Accelerated Lean Skills Programme.

 In partnership with the Institute of Operations Management, Amnis is running an ‘open’ version of this programme from 8th to 10th September 2009. For more information, contact Amnis at info@amnis.uk.com or call 0870 446 1002.

About ‘Lean’ and ‘Lean Sigma’

Six Sigma is a business management strategy, initially implemented by Motorola, which enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and variation in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organisation who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organisation follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).

Lean Sigma incorporates the speed and impact of ‘lean’ with the quality and variation control of Six Sigma.

Coined by Jim Womack’s research team at MIT in the 1990s, ‘Lean’ means doing more with less. The core idea behind ‘Lean’ is to maximise customer value while minimising waste. A Lean organisation understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continually meet those needs.

About Amnis

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in quality, innovation and productivity improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.

Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team are leaders in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.

Further information from: Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Amnis helps reveal the secrets of how to improve clinical design

According to the specialist healthcare quality, innovation and productivity improvement enabler, Amnis, redesigning end to end clinical pathways is the basis of improved healthcare performance. Amnis’ Mark Eaton, commented: “However, the days of doing high level pathway redesign and value stream mapping using brown paper and sticky post-it notes alone should now be at an end.

 
“For some time, service improvement professionals have found themselves tasked with spending hours using Visio or PowerPoint to create passable facsimiles of the diagrams appearing on brown paper – so that they can be sent out for comment and updating after the event. These experiences have helped them appreciate the limitations of the ‘brown paper approach’ in this important work.”
 
Amnis and their partners at Process Master, designers of the award winning Leanpad for Healthcare software, which enables users to create, edit, attach documents, communicate, report on and add performance data, are to run a high level Masterclass, in London, on 21st July to set out a viable, cost effective alternative.
 
“The Masterclass will introduce service redesign specialists and others tasked with managing the redesign of clinical pathways to the key things they can do to drive better service redesign activities,” said Amnis’ client services’ director, Ruth Bodman. “It will also allow people to play with, and understand the flexibility and capabilities of Leanpad for Healthcare software.
 
“The event will allow delegates to review the most productive ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of their clinical pathways; gain answers to their problems with Value Stream Mapping and Pathway Redesign Activities from the ‘experts’ and fellow delegates; gain practical experience of using pathway and process software that should reduce the time taken to capture, edit and share information by up to 80 per cent, and find out what other organisations are doing to ensure that their improvement activities are a success,” she said.
 
The Masterclass takes place at IMECHE, in Birdcage Walk, London, SW1. For further details, or to book a free place, contact Amnis’ Ruth Bodman at ruthbodman@amnis.uk.com or call 0870 446 1002.
 
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About Amnis Limited
 
Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in quality, innovation and productivity improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.
 
Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team includes specialists in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.
 
Further information from:
 
Mark Eaton, Amnis, 00 44 (0) 870 446 1002; markeaton@amnis.uk.com 
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Improving Delayed Transfers of Care

Delayed transfers of care are bad for patients and healthcare organisations. Delayed transfers of care arise because of problems with processes, planning, relationships or communications. Fixing these four issues is essential to improving the overall patient experience, and that of their relatives and carers, as well as to reducing costs for the organisations involved.

Recently we have been doing more and more on helping organisations to more effectively transfer care. In one area in the midlands we reduced the average number of patients experiencing delayed transfers of care from 45 per day to 13 through improving the processes between the organisations, gaining agreement on the measures for all the organisations, building bridges between the teams and putting in place early warning systems on patients who are liable to experience a delayed transfer of care.

To find out more about how we achieved this contact Davinder Virdi at davindervirdi(a)amnis.uk.com.

Efficiency & Effectiveness in Healthcare

Efficiency is about things right – for example, ensuring patients are admitted and discharged effectively and for minimum cost.

Effectiveness is about doing the right things – for example, ensuring that only those patients who need to be admitted are and that discharge processes are carried out safely.

They are not the same thing and the drive for efficiencies in terms of cost reduction can lead to a drop in overall effectiveness.

The real focus needs to be on improved effectiveness and then focusing on efficiency in what can be called an ‘Effectiveness First’ programme that combines some strategic work to decide on which services are needed and how they can best be delivered followed by some tactical work to make them cost efficient.

To find out more about how we are helping organisations to be effective and to become efficent in the process contact us today on 0870-446-1002, email info(a)amnis.uk.com or visit our dedicated healthcare consulting website at http://www.amnis.uk.com/healthcare-consulting.

Creating Positive News Stories

Almost everyday the papers carry a different story about problems in the NHS. From medication risk to poor nutrition to simple neglect it seems as if ever penny spent on the NHS is wasted.

However, the reality is so far from this ‘truth’ as to be almost unrecognisable. Hundreds of thousands of exceptional people deliver exceptional care every day of the week and whilst there are problems as a percentage of all activity they are very small.

Whilst even one error, mistake or omission is bad, demoralised staff make more mistakes and there is a need to balance the bad news stories with the good, and even to use the bad stories to drive continuous improvement rather than generate defensive behaviours.

Don’t your team and patients deserve that?

To find out more contact Mark Eaton on 07841-464916 or email markeaton(a)amnis.uk.com.