As anyone who has ever worked in the NHS will tell you, it is a tough environment where the demand for services is never known with certainty.
Despite all of this there is often a wide variation between those who consistently deliver and those who struggle. So what factors in my experience contributes to a successful NHS organisation.
Factor 1: Good Team At The Top
It is perhaps not that surprising to find that it is often those organisations that have a great team of the top, who have been around for a significant period of time who are high performing.
Factor 2: Clinical Staff Who Work With Those In Non Clinical Roles
Just because someone is not doing something clinical does not mean that they are not interested in patients and patient care. It is just that they contribute to patient care in a different way. Good people recognise the different things that people contribute. They are willing to listen to each other and build on each others ideas.
Factor 3: A Willingness To Collaborate
The reality is that all the different organisations are serving the same patient or client base. When people don’t collaborate for one reason or another, the person who is ultimately penalised is the person who needs the service.
Factor 4: A Sense Of Reality
When you have organisations seeing vast numbers of patients or service users every year, there is going to be a percentage that have problems. This is no different from any other organisation. While organisations will strive for perfection, there has to be a sense of reality and a willingness to accept and learn from those times when things don’t go as well as you would like.
Factor 5: A Willingness To Go Beyond Talking
It is easy to stand on the side and talk about what is wrong. While this might well make you feel better for a short time, it does not move things forward. When people put their heads together and come up with solutions and then try them out, progress starts to be made.
Factor 6: Right Culture
This is the easiest to say and tough to do. However, creating the right culture where people feel involved and heard does in my view make a big difference.
So that’s my list. I wonder what else you would add based on your own experiences?
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