PATIENT FIRST
Our long-term approach to transforming hospital services for the better.
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WHAT IS PATIENT FIRST?
Patient First is our long-term approach to transforming hospital services for the better.
Whether it’s small steps or complex change, it’s a continuous process of improvement within existing processes and pathways that leads to measurable improvements for our patients and staff.
And it’s all about empowering front-line staff to make improvements themselves – by providing the training, the tools and the freedom to work out where the opportunities are, and the skills and support to make change happen and to make it sustainable.
THE PATIENT FIRST TRIANGLE
The Patient First triangle has been created to explain the different layers of the Patient First programme. It will become a familiar sight throughout the Trust as we develop our understanding of what Patient First is and how we can use it for the benefit of our patients.
THE PATIENT FIRST AND FOREMOST
This is at the apex of the triangle to make explicit the commitment that everything we do, no matter how large or small, should always contribute to improving outcomes and experiences for the people we care for in our hospitals.
This is the True North of our organisation – the one constant towards which we must always set our direction of travel in order to achieve our vision.
Patient care is always our top priority.
That patient focus is directly supported by the Trust’s values and behaviours: kindness and understanding, fairness and transparency, working together and excellence.
At BSUH, we want to create a culture in which we see “everyone passionate about delivering excellent quality every time”
STRATEGIC THEMES
Patient First has four strategic themes that guide the initiatives we put in place across the hospitals. These are represented by the coloured bricks in the middle of the triangle:
Patient First requires a re-evaluation of our organisation’s culture and a genuine change in the way we operate – major shifts that require all our people to understand, embrace and lead the processes involved.
Continuous improvement is at the heart of Patient First – making small changes on a frequent basis to keep raising standards and quality. It’s all about getting frontline staff to approach problem solving and the analysis of actual root causes from a different, ceaselessly inquisitive perspective.
Patient First will not succeed without robust programme management arrangements to ensure its efficiency, transformation and quality improvement programmes are delivered successfully.
The Trust does not exist in a vacuum – to provide genuinely patient-centred care, Patient First must reach out beyond our hospitals to continuously improve our system-wide processes and pathways, and influence others to make sure that all decisions affecting our work are made in the best interest of patients.
STRONG FOUNDATIONS
Finally, the Patient First triangle has to be supported by strong foundations of improving quality, underpinned by financial stability, the best leadership, culture and workforce.
We will also play our part in the Sustainability and Transformation Programme as well as ensure the progress of our 3Ts development.
FIND OUT MORE
Our ‘True North’ and breakthrough objectives
The five pillars of Patient First
For staff: start your Patient First journey
THE CULTURE OF PATIENT FIRST
