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Briefing: Improvement as mainstream business: The strategic case


Summary:

This briefing explores the advantages of using quality improvement (QI) methods in healthcare. QI offers a systematic way to make measurable improvements in the quality of care, and it offers benefits for staff, patients, and the wider healthcare system.


Benefits of QI:

  • Improved workplace culture

  • Greater job control and higher satisfaction

  • Improved access to appointments and services

  • Improved safety and reduction in patient harms

  • More efficient use of resources

  • Efficiency gains and productivity improvements    


Modes of improvement activity:

  • Improving service processes and quality

  • Redesigning pathways and service models

  • Transforming organisational delivery

  • Enabling innovations    


Barriers to improvement:

  • Differences in the perception, practice, and experience of improvement

  • Lack of shared understanding about how change happens in complex systems


Ways to embed improvement:

  • Create consensus about the role of improvement

  • Recognise and foster the mediating role of local leaders

  • Create an improvement-centred vision for healthcare

  • Build connected improvement ecosystems

  • Ensure that improvement is properly resourced    


The briefing concludes that a strong case can be made for using QI approaches to transform healthcare services and achieve better outcomes for patients and staff.


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