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Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & ImproveWell
INNOVATE AWARDS FINALIST
The need for speed
Large institutions often find it difficult to react quickly. But there’s been a sea-change since the pandemic, not just in the way we think about how we work but in who should be involved in shaping the workplace. Burns Matron at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Nicole Lee, had worked with ImproveWell at the NHS Nightingale Hospital, London, so knew what impact it could have in her new position…
“I bought ImproveWell into the Burns Unit so I could offer my staff opportunities to be part of the process of creating and supporting change,” Nicole reveals. “During my time at the Nightingale, we learnt a process of being able to make quick-pace change on issues that were happening on the shop floor – things that needed to be escalated quickly.” The answer was ImproveWell’s 24/7 feedback loop for continuous learning and improvement.
Having worked across three different trusts over the last 18 years, Nicole has witnessed the difficulties of introducing change and making it stick. What’s key is reducing resistance to change. With the help of ImproveWell, this becomes much easier because the change comes from those in the know, the frontline workers.
An added ingredient
“Enabling patients to feed into the system brings a whole different ball game to your service.”
Current practice is to ask people’s opinion when they’re leaving – but “they're always happy because they're leaving” Nicole helpfully points out. “I wanted to get the nitty gritty about being treated by my service to see what was going on. That patient feedback has been really interesting and great for improving patients’ experience within the unit."
Increasing the reach
The Units’ reach is vast, covering the whole of London out to the M25. “We’re like a mini hospital in a hospital,” says Nicole. “Which means I've got a big team and lots of things to think about when it comes to running our service and making sure that we're giving all our staff the chance to feed back.”
Nicole acknowledges that some people just aren’t computer savvy. Whilst younger workers are happy to feedback on their phones, others feel more comfortable sharing their ideas in a weekly meeting. Their thoughts then get fed into the ImproveWell system.
As well as feeling listened to, staff have been buoyed by seeing suggestions acted upon almost immediately. “We're eight months in and there have been lots of improvement ideas fed into the system, from staff and patients."
And the result is...
The percentage of staff feeling comfortable sharing ideas increased from 57% to 91%, while those who felt their ideas were heard rose from 57% to 72%.
But it’s not just about boosting staff morale. With 74 improvement ideas submitted in the first eight months, potential financial savings of up to £143,930 and time savings of up to £20,128 have been identified. Approximately 55% of these ideas have already been implemented, including an idea related to stock checking and standard operating procedures that could save some £50,489 per year.
But that’s just the start, as Nicole explains. “Now where we're at a point where the staff are really thinking about what they're putting in and engaging with really good team projects. We're getting some much more in-depth ideas coming through and making huge changes.”
Watch Burns Matron Nicole Lee discuss the initiative
IDEAS IN ACTION
Some #SmallButMighty suggestions from the ImproveWell community, improving operations, and staff and patient experience, one idea at a time
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How it works
ImproveWell creates a continuous touchpoint with the workforce - making change simple with 24/7 real-time feedback and insight
SENTIMENT TRACKER
Track and boost workforce morale and wellbeing with real-time data, by asking your team how their workday is going.
IDEA HUB
Gather ideas for improvement, discuss or refine collaboratively, and keep everyone up to date with progress and implementation.
PULSE SURVEYS
Understand what matters and see where improvements are needed with swift and straightforward survey creation.
IMPROVEWELL INSIGHTS
Capture real-time feedback from patients or partner organisations via customisable online portals.
DATA DASHBOARD
Detect trends or pressure points; enable data-driven decisions; measure change; and publish reports to close the feedback loop.
Impact
Creating the right environment for wellbeing at work and continuous improvement, ImproveWell delivers:
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
