Case studies
The case studies below provide a cross section of the work undertaken by the Whole Systems Partnership in recent years.
- Commissioning mental health services for children and young people
- Developing a 'Health System Simulator'
- The spread and adoption of good practice
NHS Institute for Innovation
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Introduction
The Whole Systems Partnership was asked to facilitate a process of developing a generic, qualitative model reflecting the process for the spread and adoption of good practice. Whilst this has been undertaken in the context of project work in relation to Healthcare Associated Infections it is hoped that the work will have more general application.
The question
We started from the belief that the vast majority of people working within the public sector seek to do ‘what is best’ for the patient or client, but that change in the context in which we all work constantly provides new opportunities and new ways of defining what is ‘best’. We also recognised that change is not always easy or comfortable for individuals or organisations. In other words:
Why is the perceived adoption of good pactice significantly below that which we might expect (why doesn’t stuff happen) and what therefore can we learn about the inhibitors and enhancers in the adoption of good practice?
This is illustrated in the picture below.
An initial framework for the model
The approach established an initial framework around four key steps in the process:
- The generation of good practice;
- The recognition of good pratice;
- The communication of good practice;
- The adoption of good practice.
This four stage model was developed to explicitly explore the enhancers, inhitors, delays and feedback in the system. The initial ‘product’ is illustrated below. It is neither comprehensive nor final in any sense but is helping people to frame the process associated with the spread and adoption of good practice.
Benefits
The approach has helped the client to formulate a key set of ‘responsibilities’ in relation to a core element of its role, namely the need to:
- Create the right conditions for innovation and the generation of new ideas without which the source of good practice will be less abundant;
- Ensure that the good practice that is happened can be and is recognised as such without unnecessary hurdles or barriers;
- Support and facilitate those who are making the change in a way that is sensitive to the nature of the change and the local setting;
- Celebrate and evidence benefit from the spread of good practice;
- Minimise unrealistic expectations of either the pace or extent of change.
Download PDF version of this case study, 114Kb