Exploring the sustainability of quality improvement interventions in healthcare organisations: a multiple methods study of the 10-year impact of the 'Productive WardShow others and affiliations
2020 (English)In: BMJ Quality and Safety, ISSN 2044-5415, E-ISSN 2044-5423, Vol. 29, p. 31-40Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BACKGROUND: The 'Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care' programme is a quality improvement (QI) intervention introduced in English acute hospitals a decade ago to: (1) Increase time nurses spend in direct patient care. (2) Improve safety and reliability of care. (3) Improve experience for staff and patients. (4) Make changes to physical environments to improve efficiency.
OBJECTIVE: To explore how timing of adoption, local implementation strategies and processes of assimilation into day-to-day practice relate to one another and shape any sustained impact and wider legacies of a large-scale QI intervention.
DESIGN: Multiple methods within six hospitals including 88 interviews (with Productive Ward leads, ward staff, Patient and Public Involvement representatives and senior managers), 10 ward manager questionnaires and structured observations on 12 randomly selected wards.
RESULTS: Resource constraints and a managerial desire for standardisation meant that, over time, there was a shift away from the original vision of empowering ward staff to take ownership of Productive Ward towards a range of implementation 'short cuts'. Nonetheless, material legacies (eg, displaying metrics data; storage systems) have remained in place for up to a decade after initial implementation as have some specific practices (eg, protected mealtimes). Variations in timing of adoption, local implementation strategies and contextual changes influenced assimilation into routine practice and subsequent legacies. Productive Ward has informed wider organisational QI strategies that remain in place today and developed lasting QI capabilities among those meaningfully involved in its implementation.
CONCLUSIONS: As an ongoing QI approach Productive Ward has not been sustained but has informed contemporary organisational QI practices and strategies. Judgements about the long-term sustainability of QI interventions should consider the evolutionary and adaptive nature of change processes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 2020. Vol. 29, p. 31-40
Keywords [en]
continuous quality improvement, healthcare quality improvement, implementation science, qualitative research, quality improvement methodologies
National Category
Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-47056DOI: 10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009457ISI: 000503868800006PubMedID: 31358685Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85076446913Local ID: GOA;intsam;1377133OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-47056DiVA, id: diva2:1377133
2019-12-112019-12-112022-03-31Bibliographically approved