Improvement Collaborative Journal Page

Most of the discussion will occur within the discussion forum pages.  From time to time we will post information that is important and of general interest to both existing and new members.  This will be posted within the Journal Page.  Notification that changes have been made to the Journal Page will be posted in the discussion forum area.

Journal entry - July 23rd 2007 Author - Simon Watson

Dear All

Thanks for getting the project off the ground and for sending me your data.  You’re all doing very interesting things – and quite different things.  The first thing I’d encourage you to do is to post the comments you sent me into the collaboration discussion forum – I think they would all generate a lot of interest and further discussion.

My general comment is that I think that many of you might be making this exercise harder and perhaps more complicated than it needs to be.  The Quality Improvement methodology is different to ‘traditional’ research and audit and but also much more straightforward; over-complication can weaken a QI project.  It’s vital to start on the right track so here are some tips that I hope will be helpful.

Firstly download and listen to the 3 minute audio tutorial I’ve posted at the bottom of this webpage.  I’m sorry it’s a bit rough and ready – remember that I’m not a professional webcaster!   

Secondly, draw up a short summary based upon the structure I outline in the tutorial then fill out a PDSA chart (blank copy on the collaborate homepage).  I’ve posted a examples of both at the bottom of this webpage.  Remember – simplicity and clarity are essential – it can’t be too simple!

Thirdly think very carefully about the measurements to see if changes have lead to improvements.  Please try to report ‘original’ data, not statistics.  Also don’t be afraid to use more than one metric.  For example, your higher strategic objective aim might be >95% of patients within NICE target for anaemia so every month you should report the % of patients achieving this.  However, if your FIRST change is to introduce a new protocol for managing anaemia within your unit, you MUST also measure whether something related directly to that change – eg % of staff using new protocol.  This is often the crucial missing step in QI that leads to apparent ‘failure’ of many projects.  Again, I’ve posted an Excel file illustrating this.

I hope this is helpful – if you have any private comments, please email them to simon.watson@nhs.net but please post anything you’re happy to share within the discussion forum.

Best wishes

Simon Watson, July 23rd 2007

Downloads

  1. JULY 07 JOURNAL - QI 3 minute audio tutorial - Getting started - Simon Watson
    .wav file (3.78 MB)
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  2. JULY 07 JOURNAL - Sample Graph
    .xls file (16.00 KB)
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  3. JULY 07 JOURNAL - Sample PDSA worksheet
    .doc file (32.00 KB)
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  4. JULY 07 JOURNAL - Sample starting document
    .doc file (25.00 KB)
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