As an organisation we are developing a culture of continuous improvement. QI builds on foundations we already had in place and work we were already doing but is a more proactive approach and brings various tried and tested methodologies altogether in one place.

Other health trusts are using QI and have seen great results. Our regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), recommends the QI approach and 80% of trusts who have fully embedded QI are rated as outstanding. NHS trusts across the country are using QI to make changes which will lead to better patient outcomes, better care, an improved service, efficiencies and an improved working environment for colleagues.

Quality improvement provides a framework to look at what we do and to see if we could do it better. It’s looking at things big or small with a different lens.

QI uses a systematic evidence based approach and uses tools and techniques to improve the experience and the outcomes for patients, others who use our services and carers. It can also be used to improve our working environment, for example, improve our own processes to free up time to care.

Everyone. This includes all who work at KCHFT, our partners and our patients.

We want to give everyone a voice and to bring everyone together to positively impact the way care is provided.

Currently our colleagues have got more than 70 QI projects underway. We’ve had some patient and partner involvement but we would love to have more.

We want to encourage those at the frontline to come up with quality improvement projects. They will have ideas. We want to empower all colleagues at every level to get involved. QI will give them the tools to take their ideas forward.

It can be anything which could potentially result in an improvement. Usually a QI project will focus on a problem for which the solution is not immediately obvious. QI methodologies will guide the project team in understanding the problem better, defining the improvement they want to see, and testing out ideas for change initially on a small scale. It could be about the patient experience, or something which would save time for you and your colleagues. It might be a range of changes to improve team morale or making administration notes more efficient. It might be about bringing about more consistency, providing better care for our patients, or working more closely with partner organisations. The list is endless.

Anyone. Please see the training dates here on our website. If you are a Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) colleague you will need your line manager to support your application.