BOPDHB Checkup February 2016 | Page 9

Mental Health gets involved The latest team to get involved in the Productive Ward Series is Mental Health with ‘Switched on to PDSA’ as part of Releasing Time to Care. That’s Plan, Do, Study and Act (PDSA) to those unfamiliar with the new service improvement language. Since May 2015, the Tauranga and Whakatāne In-patient Mental Health wards have been involved in making changes to the work environment with the aim of improving the care to patients. Feedback is an important part of the PDSA cycle and with staff commenting on changes, everyone is able to have a part to play in quality improvement. Act: Revise card Study: Some key numbers missing, 7 mins wasted looking for number Terminology Plan: Too much time spent looking for key phone Do: Pocket cards attached to ID’s • Model for Improvement… is a simple quality improvement methodology that can be applied by all in healthcare. There are three fundamental questions to answer before testing a new change. • Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle…. is shorthand for testing a change — by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned – it’s about action in the real world. • Small test of change… is about starting a PDSA cycle very small to see if it works before building it up i.e. try a new idea with one patient, then 5 patients, then 10 patients and so on… • IHI Open School….is an educational community where staff can get access to training in the Model for Improvement online. How to get involved in improving things around here? Service improvement is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of whether you are a senior medical doctor, junior doctor, administrator, cleaner or manager. The SIU aim’s to give BOPDHB staff the tools, templates, support and mentoring to give projects every chance of success. Well over 250 BOPDHB staff have started this training and we recommend anyone about to embark on an improvement initiative undertake the online training before the project starts. The IHI Open School Quality Improvement course takes approximately six hours to fully complete and can be done in stages. Best of all, the course is available free to all BOPDHB staff and is also being made available to our community providers. We have adopted the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Model of Improvement methodology and online training to help us do this. Alongside the online training, the SIU offers opportunities for BOPDHB staff to be seconded to the unit while undertaking a major piece of work. To find out more about accessing the IHI Open School for free, contact any member of the SIU. To find out more about accessing the IHI Open School for free, contact any member of the SIU. 9