How It's Done - A Lesson From Mom

One of this year’s themes at the Health Quality Council Inspire Summit held in April was that of Putting Patients First, and the incredible ways Healthcare would be affected if it was to become a habit for those providing care and creating policy.  More than likely some of you have heard my thoughts on this subject before, but you’re going to hear them again – with a bit of a different spin this time.

Next Sunday is Mother’s Day.  And when I was thinking about what I should say to impress upon each of you the importance of putting the patient first, I was reminded of Moms, and the inherent ability most of them have to put their kids first.  I have no problem saying that has always been true of my Mom and maybe it is true for some of you as well.  I will always be thankful for, and amazed at, the incredible capacity she has to put her family and their needs before her own.  She’s the one person I know is always going to be there in my corner if I need her – she’s never let me down.  I’m watching now as she is dealing with the needs of the generation before her and am not surprised at the wisdom and compassion she is displaying as the issues come at her fast and furious.  My Mom is my hero and I can only aspire to being more like her as I journey through life.

In many ways, our patients and their families are in need of the compassion and wisdom that a Mom shows her family.  They need us in their corner – they are depending on us to advocate and lend them the knowledge we have of the healthcare system when they don’t know what to do next.  They need us to show them compassion – they are scared and sick and often alone and just need someone to treat them with dignity and gentleness when they are most vulnerable.  They need us to show composure when things are falling apart all around us – yes there are days when another issue is the last thing we have time to handle, but they want to deal with that issue even less than we do, and they are looking to us to have the experience and wisdom to give them guidance or to do so on their behalf.

Our patients are in desperate need of people to put them first.  And those people are you and me as healthcare workers.  I am in awe of the front line staff who strive to do this every day as they work in our Region’s facilities.  There is nothing easy about putting someone else before yourself, and I know that some days are harder than others. You are heroes for the people you care for every day and you touch their lives with every decision you make.  We are working hard to help you as you do that.  I want your input and ideas as to how we can continue to make it simpler for you to do your crucial work every day.  Our 100 Day Challenge we introduced at the Sun Country Quality Symposium is more than half over, and I am still hoping for your ideas for improving patient care and truly making sure their needs are being put first. 

I can’t begin to express my gratitude to my Mom for all the ways she has showed me how to be a caring parent and someone who can be selfless and compassionate.  It’s a gift that is given just because of who she is and it isn’t repayable.  To all of you who put the patient first every day, I say thank you for your compassion and willingness to do your job to the best of your ability.  It isn’t fully repayable either.  The wage you collect as an employee is compensation for the time and effort you give while at work.  But true payment comes with the knowledge that you have given a gift that everyone needs at some point.  So know that putting patients first is a huge gift to hundreds of people in our Region every day.  And you are appreciated!

Flight 201 Departing...Gate 1

If you could have a superpower what would it be?  The power to heal yourself or others?  Super human speed?  The ability to read minds?  Invisibility?  For me, it would be the ability to fly.  I would love to be able to take off and leave the constraints of land travel behind whenever and wherever I wanted.  The freedom and perspective that ability would provide is definitely something I would love to have. 

Unfortunately, none of us are likely to have a superpower wish fulfilled anytime soon.  I am, however, offering every one of you the chance to have freedom and perspective that you haven’t had before.  Flight 201 is a four day training opportunity for approximately 30 future LEAN Champions who are preferably front line staff with a passion for improvement and who are formal or informal leaders in their program/facility. 

When the training is complete, you will be able to assist your peers with LEAN projects on location and would be the “Go-To” person in the facility for LEAN questions.  And to support you in the work you will be facilitating in your workplace, we will have LEAN Champion forums to discuss your challenges and successes and put forward new ideas and opportunities.  My hope is that we will be able to plan these forums on a quarterly basis, but if time and activity levels allow we will do it more often!

Now, I have had some folks in the past balk at the term “champion”.  But when you consider that a champion really just means someone with repeated wins, it makes sense!  How exciting will it be for you to provide your co-workers with a win every time you facilitate a project or bring to fruition an idea they had for better patient care or access?  And I mean – really – who doesn’t like winning?

You may be wondering how you are supposed to have time for this with the demands of your everyday work.  Part of the sign-up process will include a contract for you and your supervisor to agree to that outlines some of the expectations – both of you and your supervisor if you are part of the training.

I know I feel empowered every time I encounter a challenge and am able to employ some of the LEAN knowledge I have to meet it head on.  I want everyone to feel like a superhero who can be free from the restriction of having to keep your feet on the everyday ground littered with bad processes and frustrating procedures.  If you are interested in initiating a string of wins in your facility as a champion, have your supervisor contact me before May 18 and we will talk about whether or not this training would be a fit for you!

Hoshin Kanri Rolling Along

Wondering where I have been?!?!  Well…

Over the past few months, team CQI has been crazily working on Hoshin Kanri (Strategy Deployment) - an initiative that started back in September of 2011, bringing together 16 CEO’s in Saskatchewan Healthcare.  This included representatives from all 13 Regions in the province as well as representation from SAHO, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, and Health Quality Council.  With this, we as a province started on a journey that in some articles I’ve read, is being called the 100 year game changer.  Now I’m not going to go into great detail or the nuts and bolts of Hoshin, but what I am going to do is give you an idea of what’s been going on, and what the objectives are.

This process has involvement from the CEO, Senior Leadership, and front line level.  Roll-out of the process to front line staff was just completed using engagement sessions for all staff at every facility.  A new strategy outlines the vision for improving access to a health system that provides Better Health, Better Care, and Better Value for everyone who accesses services here in Saskatchewan.  By building safer and more supportive work-places committed to patient and family-centered care, we will enable the development of Better Teams.

One of the Breakthrough initiatives that will contribute to the building of the “Betters” is the development of the Continuous Improvement System / LEAN.  These powerful tools enable us to make changes that result in improvement, as well as ensure that all of our efforts are sustained for years to come.  There are five major over-arching objectives to the plan that has been put in place: 1. Strengthening Primary Health Care, 2. Deploying a Continuous Improvement System (LEAN), 3. Improving Surgical Access and Transforming the Surgical Experience, 4. Enhancing the Safety Culture with a focus on Patient and Staff Safety, and 5. Implementing Shared Services. 

With all of the province working together to achieve these common goals, we are able to work on ensuring seamless care between regions and organizations.  As we all know, the ideal we should be working towards is healthcare in the province that has no walls or barriers.  To make sure that these objectives are met, we need to have support and engagement from everyone working in the system, as without this there is no way we can expect to accomplish the vision which has been laid before us of a transformed health system.  Healthcare has always been, or should have been, a team affair or failure is a sure outcome.  We need to work harder, now more then ever, to ensure that every employee working in the province clearly understands the impact they have and how their work supports this shared provincial vision.  Although not everyone may be able to identify their work in the five breakthrough initiatives, they will surely find a link in one of the 17 projects selected by SCHR that will move the breakthroughs (Hoshins) along.

This incredible transformation that is taking place everywhere, every day, in Saskatchewan healthcare is arguably the biggest healthcare transformation that will ever take place.  The sheer size and magnitude of a project that has so many organizations and staff working towards such an amazing, common goal like Better Health, Better Care, Better Value, and of course Better Teams is phenomenal and an experience I know I will never be exposed to again.  I am very excited to be a part of this, and I hope you will find the same excitement and join me on this journey of improvement and sustainability!!