KayHill were commissioned by NHS Right Care to produce a series of Casebooks. These feature organisations that have been using the Right Care approach to drive healthcare reform, something KayHill has been intimately involved with. Case studies of our work using the Right Care approach can be accessed on our client feedback page and on the Right Care website, while you can find our presentation on transforming urgent care at the Commissioning for Value Conference here.
KayHill tend to work with organisations to reform health and social care economies rather than writing about others doing this, but were delighted to help showcase their valuable work. All too often we move onto another reform or pressing issue and lack the time to reflect. As busy healthcare professionals and managers, we rarely take time to reflect on the journey that was taken and any lessons leaned good or bad. So it was really useful to spend time talking with organisations that are successfully leading reform and shout about these success stories – this is something we don’t do often enough in the NHS
Change in the NHS is not rocket science……its far more complex than that!
Change undertaken in the NHS is an example of a complex problem as opposed to a complicated problem, such as putting a man on the moon. To put a man on the moon, follow a map and set of processes and in all likelihood you will achieve your desired outcome. Change in the NHS on the other hand is complex and messy. The health system is itself very complex as it involves humans making decisions often led by their emotions and experiences rather than the evidence. This is further compounded by its numerous stakeholders and a professional workforce that can exert control and influence over a change effort (Plsek 2003). Change is therefore non linear (Iles and Sutherland 2000) and like raising children, you may follow a guideline or manual, put in the right ingredients but, as all parents will testify, you have no guarantee of achieving the desired outcome!
Let’s celebrate success and tell others about it
When we achieve any successful change in the NHS, however big or small- we should celebrate this. In each of the casebooks we were lucky to write about, people enabled the change to happen. As the evidence suggests, diffusion and spread of the new idea happened because people talked about it, mind sets changed and people worked differently. The journey for some was challenging and not without obstacles, but there was a tenacity and a willingness to do things better.
KayHill want to shout about the fabulous work NHS Calderdale CCG, NHS Hardwick CCG, NHS Slough CCG and NHS Vale of York CCG have undertaken on their behalf. We want to take the opportunity to thank them for sharing their stories of improvement with us and enabling us to write about them, bring them to life and support that spread of innovation. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to read the NHS Right Care casebooks, they can be accessed here.