The topic of continuous quality improvement (CQI) is firmly back on the agenda for NHS Trusts and ICBs.
For some, that’s not an issue. Perhaps 10% have shown themselves to be really good at this for years now. Another 30% or so will have dabbled with CQI with mixed results, delivering interesting but isolated improvements. But the initial enthusiasm often fizzles out, with no system in place to ensure it sustains.
That still leaves an awful lot of organisations for whom CQI is something that’s traditionally been shunted into a corner, deprioritised behind a hundred other more pressing problems. And for ICBs this is all brand new and a major opportunity to drive system wide, consistent improvement.
For some, CQI is confused with failed turnaround programmes that search for cost reductions and productivity gains that do not last and irritate staff.
