Routine failures in the process for blood testing and the communication of results to patients in primary care in the UK

"A number of potential failures in testing and communicating results to patients were identified, and some specific ideas for improving existing systems emerged. These included same-day phlebotomy sessions, use of modern technology methods to proactively communicate routine results and targeted training for receptionists handling sensitive data."

Routine failures in the process for blood testing and the communication of results to patients in primary care in the UK: a qualitative exploration of patient and provider perspectives
I Litchfield, L Bentham, A Hill, RJ McManus, R Lilford, S Greenfield
BMJ Quality and Safety 2015;24:681-690 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003690

Read more here.

Personalised Care & Support Planning Handbook

"The handbook is aimed at commissioners and care practitioners (i.e. not just health and care professionals, but also other non-clinical and volunteer roles), and is intended to set out what personalised care and support planning is, and how to deliver it. It will show how personalised care and support planning fits within the wider context of person-centred care and can be used as a system enabler to help provide more proactive and coordinated care for people with long-term conditions and better support for self-management."

NHS England: Personalised Care & Support Planning Handbook
Coalition for Collaborative Care, NHS England
January 2015

Read more here.

System leadership: Lessons and learning

"A consensus is emerging in England around the concept of ‘integrated care’ as the best hope for a sustainable NHS. For leaders in the health care system, this represents an immense challenge. Leading across complex interdependent systems of care is a new and different role, undertaken alongside the already difficult task of leading successful institutions."

System leadership: Lessons and learning from AQuA's Integrated Care Discovery Communities
D Fillingham, B Weir
October 2014

Read more here.

Do large-scale hospital and system-wide interventions improve patient outcomes

"Common findings show the difficulty of introducing large-scale interventions, and that effective leadership and clinical champions, adequate financial and educational resources, and dedicated promotional activities appear to be common factors in successful system-wide change."

Do large-scale hospital and system-wide interventions improve patient outcomes: a systematic review
R Clay-Williams, H Nosrati, FC Cunningham, K Hillman, J Braithwaite
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:369

Read more here.

Examining, diagnosing, and treating systems (video)

"In a new Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School video resource, MIT senior lecturer and IHI Senior Fellow Steve Spear explains why he thinks seven steps needed to care for patients are essentially the same as those needed to fix systems of care. He also shares common trouble areas and gives an example of a successful improvement."

Examining, diagnosing, and treating systems

S Spear

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

May 2014

Find out more and access the video resource here.

The NHS England business plan for 2014-15 to 2016-17

"The NHS England business plan sets out how NHS England will support commissioning and drive improvements in patient outcomes."

Putting Patients First: The NHS England business plan for 2014-15 to 2016-17
NHS England
April 2014

Read more here.

Improving patient flow

"The Health Foundation created the Flow Cost Quality improvement programme to focus on the relationship between patient flow, costs and outcomes in two NHS hospital trusts: South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust."

Improving patient flow: learning report
The Health Foundation
April 2013

Read more here.

Case studies available here.