Quality, service improvement and redesign (QSIR) tools
This is a comprehensive collection of proven quality, service improvement and redesign tools, theories and techniques that can be applied to a wide variety of situations. You can search the collection alphabetically for a specific tool or browse groups of tools using one of four categories.
Contents
- Tools by stage of project
- Tools by type of task
- Tools by approach
- Tools by patient pathway
- Full list of tools
Origin of content
This online library was created in 2006 by Dr Julia R A Taylor and the ‘No Delays’ team of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. The ACT Academy refreshed this resource in 2017 and are the ongoing curators. Key contributors of this latest edition were Dr Julia R A Taylor, Stephanie Reid and Dr Alison Tweed. Any questions on the content? Please contact england.mixedmethods@nhs.net.
Tools by stage of project
Our tools, theories and techniques for implementing a service improvement project, ordered by the stage of project you are at, eg start out, handing over and sustaining etc. Find tools relevant to the different stages of your project.
Tools by type of task
Our tools, theories and techniques associated with addressing specific tasks, eg mapping the process, thinking creatively etc. Find tools by the type of task you are dealing with.
Tools by approach
Our tools, theories and techniques linked to a specific approach, eg Lean, Six Sigma, analytical tools etc. Find tools relevant to your approach.
Tools by patient pathway
Our tools, theories and techniques that relate to the stages of the patient pathway.
Full list of tools
An A-Z list of all the tools, techniques and theories contained within our online library.
- 2 Steps down
- 6S (previously 5S)
- 30/60/90- day cycles
- Action planning
- Active listening
- Affinity diagram
- After action review
- Aims statement development
- Aligning improvement with strategic goals
- Balanced scorecard
- Benefits realisation
- Brainstorming
- Bullet proofing
- Cause and effect (fishbone diagram)
- Check sheet
- Clinical engagement
- Commitment, enrolment and compliance
- Communications matrix
- Creating a vision
- Demand and capacity – a comprehensive guide
- Demand and capacity – an overview
- Discharge planning
- Discomfort zone
- Discovery Model
- DNAs – reducing ‘Did Not Attends’
- Driver diagrams (tree diagrams)
- Engagement and empowerment
- Enhanced recovery
- Flow – reduce unnecessary waits
- Fresh eyes
- Gateway criteria
- Glenday sieve – runners, repeaters, strangers
- Healthcare leadership model
- Histogram
- How to understand differences between individuals
- Identifying frustrating problems
- Influence Model
- Issues and risks management
- Leading improvement: an overview
- Leading improvement framework
- Lean – Ohno’s eight wastes
- Length of stay – reducing length of stay
- Lens of Profound Knowledge
- Lessons learnt
- Managing conflict
- Mapping the last 10 patients
- Mapping the process – an overview
- Mapping: value stream
- Measurement for improvement: an overview
- Model for measuring quality care (structure, process, outcome and balancing measures)
- Modelling and simulation
- Overcoming barriers
- Pareto analysis
- Partnership working with health service users
- Patient information
- Patient stories
- Performance management
- Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles and the model for improvement
- Process mapping – a conventional model
- Process templates
- Project charter, brief or mandate
- Project initiation document (PID)
- Project management: an overview
- Public narrative
- Reducing cancelled operations
- Reliable design
- Report on progress
- Resistance – enabling collaboration by working with it
- Responsibility charting
- Reviving a stalled effort
- Role redesign
- Root cause analysis using five whys
- Run charts
- Safe to fail experiments
- Same day elective care- treat day surgery as the norm
- Same day emergency care (ambulatory emergency care)
- SBAR communication tool- Situation – Background – Assessment – Recommendation
- Scatter diagram (correlation)
- Seven steps to measurement for improvement
- Simple rules – provocation
- Simple rules and breaking them
- Six Thinking Hats®
- Spaghetti diagram
- Stakeholder analysis
- Stakeholder involvement: an overview
- Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Supporting people through change – an overview
- Sustainability Model
- Sustaining momentum
- That’s impossible!
- Theory of constraints
- Thinking creatively to solve problems – an overview
- Tracer study
- Variation – how to manage it