Lean Thinking for Service Transformation

Doing More with Less

Service Transformation provides a catalyst for change and results in:

• Improved quality and efficiency
• Improved patient care and experience
• Improved safety and reduce mortality
• Reduced length of stay
• Reduced waste
• Lower costs
• Reduced delays
• Improved staff morale

Lean thinking, developed from the Toyota Production System, has been applied in many sectors to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Whilst healthcare and manufacturing are very different fields, they both require the efficient integration of people, processes and technology. The language and the sequence of changes may differ, but the Lean principles work everywhere and can significantly contribute to service transformation.

LSC Group has many years experience in providing Lean consulting services to the public sector and can provide assistance to NHS organisations seeking to improve efficiency, reduce waste and lower NHS costs by the implementation of Lean techniques combined with a pragmatic, common sense approach to service transformation.

Our Approach:

Our approach to Lean consulting follows a proven generic process as shown in the figure* below, and described in table 1.

* Figure adapted from James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones (2003) Lean Thinking, Free Press

Table 1. Generic Lean Process

Project Stage	Objectives
Research & analysis	Establish current system / process, the “as-is” performance, issues, remedial actions and scope for improvement
Future state design	Identify and design potential future states and scope the “to-be” performance
Demonstration	Improve the system / process in order to demonstrate improved performance in a discrete area
Implementation	Finalise the future state design Implement the future state design to improve performance
Embed change	Ensure that changes and benefits are sustainable in the longer term

 

Lean Thinking in Healthcare - Doing More with Less