A culture of curiosity and creativity

Championing bottom-up change

Celebrating success

Get involved

“We are embracing QI, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it

will help us achieve the cul-ture of curiosity and crea-tivity where we all feel em-powered and confident in looking for improvements for the benefit of our pa-

tients.”

At Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH) we are

aiming to have a culture of ‘curiosity and creativity’ that is fair,

open and supportive.

One of the ways we are creating

this culture is to have an ap-

proach to quality improvement

(QI) that develops capacity and

capability for individuals and

teams to make improvements

for themselves.

ASPH is a caring and compas-

sionate organisation and our

approach to QI reflects these

strengths and harnesses

these—by encouraging experi-

mentation and innovation in

the pursuit of delivering better

care for patients.

‘Be the Change’ is about em-

powering teams to be creative,

innovative and always looking

for ways to improve their ser-

vices and the care we provide.

Our aims:

• To continually improve the care given to our patients

• To contribute to an organisa-tional culture of ‘curiosity and creativity’

• To strengthen teams and build collective leadership for improvement

A social movement ‘Be the Change’ launched in February 2014 as a programme

conceived by junior doctors, based on social movement theo-

ry and inspired by the national NHS Change Day.

In this first year the junior doctor team distributed postcards

throughout the organisation allowing all staff to submit their

ideas for improvement. Hundreds of proposed changes

were collected and teams were brought together to work on

implementing the best ideas.

Over 40 improvement projects were completed in the first year,

in each case by a combination of junior doctors and local

‘Change Champions’ .

Since 2014, the ‘Be the Change’ programme has spread to sup-

port organic improvement activities throughout the Trust – by

‘going where the energy is’ and supporting teams to make

improvements in quality and patient safety.

At ASPH we aim to empower all staff to

identify quality improvement opportuni-

ties in their own areas and to empower

people to make improvements them-

selves.

Be the Change not only enables staff to

come forward with ideas for improve-

ment, but also creates opportunities for

‘Change Champions’ to develop new skills

in their roles. We have developed an approach to ‘bottom-up’ change that:

• Builds a broad knowledge of improvement meth-odology that is simple and repeatable

• Teaches measurement, problem-solving and PDSA skills at all levels

• Develops people-focused improvement skills, through coaching of teams

The model for improvement

To support the ‘bottom-up’ change efforts that make ‘Be the Change’

successful, we aim to build a broad-base knowledge of quality im-

provement methodology that is simple and repeatable.

We aim to teach measurement, problem-solving and PDSA skills at all

levels within the organisation and we focus on the ‘Model for Improve-

ment’ as developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

The IHI Model for Improvement is a simple

but powerful tool for making improvement

in healthcare. The model has two steps:

1- Three fundamental questions that must be answered before we

start an improvement

2 - The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle to test changes in the real world

We are passionate about spreading the learning and sharing a simple

but effective approach to quality improvement. Bespoke teaching ses-

sions and online tools are combined with coaching and mentoring for

those teams using the model in practice.

In 2015, we launched our quality improvement microsite – www.bethechangeasph.com – which

provides staff with helpful online tools and resources to get started with improvement.

In the following months a new mobile app was also launched by the team to spread the word

about, and help more people to adopt, a simple approach to quality improvement as part of the

‘Be The Change’ programme.

The app is a perfect way for staff to

access all the support and resources

they need to help them with im-

provement projects.

For those involved in projects, or for

those who have an idea for improve-

ment, all the information and tools

they need are available in the palm

of their hand, whenever they are

needed.

The app is available on all mobile devices and is free to all users. In addition to

the tools and tips for QI, there are a growing number of blogs, articles and pro-

ject updates as well as short videos to help inspire our teams.

The Change Portal Both the microsite and the app include the change portal, which provides all staff with a simple

way to submit their ideas for improvement and suggestions for QI projects.

All submissions receive a reply from the central team, with advice, guidance, tips on getting

started and an offer of help if it’s required. The portal is a great way of supporting staff at all

levels to make suggestions for quality improvements in a simple and structured way.

TOOLS, Resources and The mobile app

‘BE the change’

Supporting ‘bottom-up’ quality improvement at Ashford and st Peter’s NHS FOUNDATION trust

The human side of change

Supporting quality improvement is synonymous with being a de-

veloping and progressive organisation and we know that in order

for us to achieve our goals, we need to empower our teams to be

creative, innovative and always looking for ways to improve our

services and the care we provide.

Therefore, as well as all the great resources and practical tips to

help our teams develop their skills and participate in QI, we also

want to explore and share our thinking and research about the

human side of change.

We strongly believe that improvement is all about people,

and that sharing learning about the human factors that

make improvement successful will help us all on our QI

journey. We invest time and energy with staff at all levels

in:

• Helping others to understand and create the conditions

that need to be in place to allow QI to flourish

• Carrying out team and individual coaching

• Helping leaders to develop their ‘leadership for improve-

ment’ skills

Email: bethechange@asph.nhs.uk

Web: bethechangeasph.com

@BeTheChangeASPH

facebook.com/Be-The-Change-ASPH

Dozens of ‘Be the Change’ projects have been completed

across the organisation since the programme was launched

in February 2014. We work with the teams to share results,

as well as the lessons-learned, from their QI projects ; pro-

ducing case studies to celebrate success and inspire others.

A successful ‘Be the Change’ project can take many forms,

but even a small QI project can make a big difference to pa-

tient care and patient experience.

There are lots of ways to get involved and to find

out more about the ‘Be the Change’ programme.

If you have an idea for improvement, or a change

you would like to make, you can contact the team

through the ‘change portal’ online or using any of

the contact methods here. Alternatively, you can

download the app for your mobile device.

We look forward to hearing from you!

We help our ‘Change

Champions’ to be rigor-

ous about measurement

and to use information; to

identify and test improve-

ments, and to capture the

benefits of the changes

they make.