Uni-NHS link up creates mapping tools

A new visual process mapping technique that can be used to capture and improve hospital systems has been developed as the result of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between NHS Fife and the University of Stirling.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships bring UK business and higher education together. The Fife project saw a computing graduate, Mike Ghattas, work full time with NHS Fife for three years, supported by senior university and trust staff.

Professor John Bowers, one of those involved with the project, said it aimed to take the idea of process mapping, which is often used in a commercial environment, and adapt it to the specific needs of the NHS.

“Mapping has been going on in the health service for many years, but it has often been done using crude technology,” he said. “We were using Microsoft’s Visio software to develop hierarchical models that allow people to look at an overview or to drill down into their specific bit of the process.”

Photographs were initially attached to the models to bring them to life, but the trust went on to invest in the creation of stylised pictograms. The result is a visual interface that staff can use to explore the models and identify points where services could be improved.

The models also allow for “what if” scenarios to be created. “There is a lot of benefit to be gained from simply mapping and sharing information about what is going on,” said Professor Bowers. “But we have been doing some simulation work, for example in Accident and Emergency, where there is a real focus on meeting the four hour waiting time target, and in orthopaedics.”

Ghattas also led a complementary project to redesign NHS Fife’s intranet portal to support service transformation. He has now been offered a job with the health board, which hopes to make the tools that have been developed available to other NHS organisations in Scotland.

“This work allowed us to tap into a valuable local knowledge base at the University of Stirling, which is at the cutting edge of thinking in this area,” said Ken Laurie, the director of strategic change at NHS Fife.

“It has contributed to us achieving improvements in throughput and capacity in A&E and other clinical settings and is helping us to achieve national waiting time targets.”