At an event I recently attended \u2013 our Design Day for KQuIP \u2013 everyone in the room agreed that there\u00a0are four basic yet important things we need to have in place to make quality improvement happen\u00a0across kidney services. I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment and I want to share some of my\u00a0reflections on them.<\/p>\n
The first was that we need to collaborate and share our quality improvement work. The best way to\u00a0learn is from each other and by sharing what we\u2019re doing \u2013 what works and what doesn\u2019t work – we\u00a0stop people from reinventing the wheel or always having to start from scratch. We all have the same\u00a0aim \u2013 to improve services for our patients \u2013 so sharing and learning from each other is the simplest\u00a0and most effective way to create change. I think we all acknowledge that we have limited resources,\u00a0certainly financial, so what better way to stretch what we\u2019ve learned and encourage improvement\u00a0elsewhere than by sharing what we know is effective and brings about lasting change.<\/p>\n
The second was commitment. KQuIP would like to see everyone in the multidisciplinary kidney team\u00a0taking quality improvement on board. Sometimes the simplest of ideas for change can have the\u00a0most impact and I believe along with everyone else that improving quality is something all should be\u00a0doing. It should be part of the day job for us all and not a box-ticking exercise. We shared the belief\u00a0that that people should just be getting on with it. Yes, we may need to build people\u2019s skills and\u00a0knowledge around QI and that\u2019s exactly what KQuIP is set to do.<\/p>\n
Stability is the third requirement for quality improvement \u2013 not a constantly changing agenda. So\u00a0KQuIP\u2019s USP is exactly that. At a time of constant change when organisations come and go KQuIP has\u00a0the opportunity to run independently from all that inconsistency because it\u2019s led by the kidney\u00a0associations, clinician and importantly, patients. These will always be there, so KQuIP can be stable\u00a0and always moving forwards without the threat of organisational or system change and this will\u00a0create the stability we need.<\/p>\n
Finally, the fourth element is culture, because the right environment, support, encouragement and\u00a0enthusiasm for people to get involved in QI will make it happen. We have to support people to do\u00a0things differently – stop doing some things, start doing others – and engage and involve people from\u00a0every aspect of kidney services. And we need to celebrate and share success.<\/p>\n
Culture was once again identified as a key enabler to improve quality. Feedback suggested that\u00a0professionals should look more often at things they should stop doing, about being more\u00a0collaborative, involving patients more and accepting that all have a responsibility to improve quality.\u00a0Trust and primary care Chief executives who are quite vocal and supportive of quality improvement\u00a0tend to bring influence to the culture that will make initiatives sustainable and measurable.<\/p>\n
It was Thomas Edison who famously said \u201cthere is always a better way\u201d and while that may have\u00a0become a bit of a clich\u00e9, it\u2019s a statement I stand by, and judging by the agreement of the people I\u00a0was working with \u2013 the KQuIP faculty \u2013 so do they.<\/p>\n
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