Background information
The child and adolescent psychiatric clinic in the region has for many years had extensive problems in the form of an unusually large number of operational and departmental managers, high staff turnover and long queues for neuropsychiatric assessments in particular. Sirona had previously carried out a medical and work environment audit and made recommendations to the clinic to achieve the long-term goals of improved patient safety, availability and work environment. In terms of methodology, Sirona recommended that the clinic work with working groups in each focus area to involve employees and to work persistently with the recommendations for 36 months to achieve lasting results.
Challenge
Sirona was tasked with supporting the clinic management in a comprehensive change program to put the recommendations from the audits into practice and thus start the journey towards achieving the goals of improved patient safety, accessibility and work environment.
Implementation
The project organization of the change program consisted mainly of a steering group, a management group and four working groups. The management group consisted of the clinic's regular management and the project manager from Sirona and was tasked with making various decisions and leading the implementation work.
The working groups consisted of a head of department or clinic secretary, staff from Sirona and clinic staff. The task of the working groups was to provide suggestions for improvement in their area together with implementation plans to the management team. Sirona staff supported the chairs of the working groups by preparing meetings, leading the discussions into concrete improvement proposals and communicating the proposals to the management team on an ongoing basis.
Two Sirona experts, both doctors with extensive experience in both clinical work and healthcare management, worked continuously as management support and were consulted on various issues as needed.
Outcome
The work enabled a coherent vision for change among employees through clearly formulated goals and strategies. A secure, uniform and quality-assured care was obtained through the development of guidelines for treatment and neuropsychiatric assessment. Increased accessibility and patient safety were achieved through the implementation of a uniform flow of care with regard to an efficient process and clear division of responsibilities. Furthermore, the work led to increased availability and resource utilization through the introduction of standardized schedules to facilitate coordination and increase direct patient-related work. Closer collaboration with key partners was initiated to enable appropriate triage and treatment in collaboration. The work has also resulted in an appropriate supply of skills through the development of a long-term recruitment plan based on a quantitative skills needs analysis.
