Resources

Over the past three decades, many health systems have sought to enhance care delivery. Despite various approaches such as quality improvement and lean management these efforts can fall short. Failures are often attributed to leaders and workers not doing the right things. This article argues that the real quality problems lie in the underlying systems staff work with. It says that human service organisations will be more successful if they focus on designing systems that support the delivery of high-quality care, rather than trying to fix the people working within them.

Spreading, scaling up, and sustaining improvements in human services is a complex challenge that many countries, including the UK, USA, and Australia, have been tackling. Despite significant efforts, the sustainability of scaling up local improvements remains low. One reason for this is the traditional, linear approach to spreading improvements, which often overlooks the complexity and evolving nature of healthcare systems.

Managing change remains the most important challenge that leaders grapple with today. By our nature, we resist change and lean towards sustaining the status quo.

Change is scary — and challenging. Maintaining an existing habit is easier than changing it and trying something new means there is a possibility of failure. Most people prefer to stay in their comfort zone than venture into unknown territory however change is where we grow and improve our organisations. So if change is inevitable, how do we deal with it when it happens?

Systems can be complex and change can be difficult. So how can you make it possible?

An introduction into systems thinking and complexity in health.

Systems thinking is a way to maximise program/organisational effectiveness.

This guide suggests a way to use the concept of microsystems to focus the QI process on the locus of responsibility for patient experience, provides an overview of the process of quality improvement, discusses a few well-known models of quality improvement, and presents a few tools and techniques that organizations can use to address various aspects of consumer experience.

Research shows teams who develop a good aim perform better. A good aim statement captures the voice of the customer, of those we serve.

A free short course by Dr Cathy Balding to help you engage staff in the quality improvement cycle.