Leading Better Care
Sharing Good Practice
NHS Board: NSS (SNBTS)
Ward / department / team: SNBTS
Dumfries Donor Team
Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness at Blood Donor Sessions.
What was the particular problem that this case study is about?
The project focused on identifying and implementing new processes that
would reduce the amount of time blood donors wait to donate and reduce the
number of donors that come to donate but are then deferred.
This was a pilot of a proposed national change to blood donor sessions. I
agreed to lead the Dumfries team to undertake the pilot which involved a
change to donor screening and donor flow at sessions. Previously donors
attended the donor session and their health check was printed at the session,
completed by the donor and reviewed by donor carer staff (health screening)
before donation. Many donors are deferred from donating at this stage due to
health issues.
How was this identified?
From donor complaints, and from a report conducted by external consultants (
McKinsey) who undertook process mapping and analysis of the donor
experience. They identified the need for changes to the process to make it
more efficient.
What were the implemented improvements (what tools/techniques did
you use)?
Improvement
Donors were sent their Health Check questionnaire to complete at home
before attending the session. This required a change to the management of
the donor journey through the session to donate blood. I worked with the
donor team to refine this and made small alterations to make it more efficient.
Information obtained from a time and motion study undertaken by SNBTS
National Standards group helped to identify problem areas. Measurements
were recorded for a session using an activity sampling technique.
Recording of donor waiting times. The measurements were compared before
and after the service improvements were introduced.
The donors were sent their donor health check to complete at home and bring
along to the session.
Every donor in Dumfries and Galloway receives:
Letter about Home Health Check Pilot
Donor information leaflet
Leaflet on how to complete the Health Check
Home Health Check Questionnaire (appx. 10 days before blood donor
session)
Review of “Call Up” system,
I had to give feedback to the national group on improvements to the system,
This was gathered from feedback forms from staff and donors affected by the
changes and through discussion with the donor teams.
What is the situation now?
There has been a successful National ( SNBTS) implementation following a
long trial of the pilot for SNBTS in the Dumfries and Galloway region.
The process is constantly under review and there is continued feedback to
both staff and from donors on changes implemented. (Plan Do Study Act)
.
How is the change sustainable?
Financially beneficial with savings outweighing the cost of this change.
The new processes are reviewed regularly with a view to make further
improvements as required.
Staff feedback forms are available to all staff involved and are regularly
collected and reviewed.
Measurable outcomes
What are the patient ( donor) benefits?
Reduction in the waiting time from initial processing of donors, A reduction in
the amount of on session deferrals by 4% saving the donors time wasting
visits and increasing productivity of session. Additional benefits may be
increased accuracy in donor responses on the questionnaire ( due to
completion at home) thereby increased safety for patients.
What are the staff benefits?
Increased productivity and reduction in the amount of donor complaints
What are the organisational benefits?
Financially benefits due to increase in productivity.
Regular feedback to a National Group within the organisation has been
conducive to the National Rollout of this Service Improvement.
.
How did staff feel before the improvement/during the improvement and
after the improvement?
The staff recognised there was room for improvement in parts of the of
donation process and were suggestive of proposed changes to improve
service.
The number of staff involved was a small cohort of approximately 40 staff
members. All fully informed in pre planning as well as regular meetings with
middle management, forms were provided for both staff and donor feedback.
Furthermore, staff feedback meetings were held regularly
What are the lessons learnt and what would you do differently next
time?
Close communication with staff is beneficial to the initial response to major
change within a process, also regular feedback from emerging issues with a
system for reviewing solutions quickly.
Realistic timelines for project parts that involve multi disciplinary teams
What plans are there to spread the improvement?
SNBTS national rollout of Home DSR and proposed changes to streamline
other aspects of session processes are already planned and partly
implemented with similar benefits recognised. I have delivered much of the
training to the rest of the donor teams in Scotland and assisted with the
implementation of the changes.
.
Contact information for case study
Anne McIlduff, Team Manager, SNBTS
8 Nelson Mandela Square,
The Athenaeum
Glasgow