Have you ever looked around your place of work and considered that there are lots of opportunities to improve the value we provide to our service users by removing waste in our system? The concept of waste is defined by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as “resources expended in money, time and/or personnel, that do not add value for the patient, family or community”[1]. Waste reduction is a key element of the programme of work that supports us to Improve Value, one of ELFT’s four strategic objectives.
Identifying and tackling waste has the potential to:
- Improve quality of care
- Release time for staff to focus on what matters
- Increase efficiency
- Reduce costs
In April 2022, 39 members of staff took up the challenge of trying to reduce waste in their area by joining two 30-minute workshops over a week, designed to help them learn about applying the ‘8 Wastes tool’. The workshops were designed and delivered in partnership with the Financial Viability Team and aimed to equip staff from across the Trust with the knowledge and skills needed to identify and understand waste in their place of work.