Using Flow Diagrams to optimise flow

On the 3^{rd of} October, the third Optimising Flow QI learning session was attended by representatives from 18 teams across the Trust, who came together to share learning and receive coaching for their improvement work. All teams are working on issues related to improving pathways of care and services for services users and staff.

The focus of this session was to challenge the teams identify did they know their service well enough? Three solutions were shared for those doing Flow work emphasising that whatever you try knowing your system well is crucial (figure 1.)

Figure 1. Three solutions

Eleanor Mata, clinical lead from the Admission, Avoidance and Discharge service in Tower Hamlets shared her teams’ journey in understanding their issue and system better. They initially depicted a good analysis of the issue but realised that outside the team it would be hard to understand. They contacted their Local Improvement Advisor, Carlos Santos for help. Carlos helped them think through how they could visualise their system better to enable them to identify the areas to work on (figure 2.) Eleanor confirmed that this was “much easier for staff and service users to understand and would be used more readily”.

To help you develop your flow diagram for your service contact your local QI coach and refer to the flow diagram pages on our microsite.

Figure 2. Flow diagram – AADS – Tower Hamlets