Tick aqua General practice

Helping PCNs to improve patient care and health outcomes

Proactive and personalised care is an approach to health and wellbeing that identifies and supports people’s needs before they reach a point of crisis.

Quality improvement tools and templates

Quality improvement (QI) empowers those closest to the issues affecting care quality by providing them with the time, permission, skills, and resources needed to address and solve these challenges.

It involves a systematic and coordinated approach to solving a problem using specific methods and tools with the aim of delivering a measurable improvement.

Several QI methods were introduced as part of the proactive and personalised care programme, and PCNs were encouraged to use them in designing their projects to improve health outcomes for patients.

The QI sessions were led by Dr Joanna Bircher, Clinical Director for the Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board’s GP Excellence Programme.

In her video, which is 14 minutes, Dr Bircher explains the QI approach. You can also find a number of QI templates to download below.

QI templates

Aim statement

An aim statement defines what the project aims to achieve. It is designed to keep improvement efforts focused and on track.

Aim statement

Process map

Process mapping is a technique that creates a visual representation of all the steps in a process.

Process map

Fishbone diagram

A Fishbone diagram is used to help to identify and display the root causes of a problem.

Fishbone diagram

Model for improvement

The model for improvement ensures that you and your team are very clear and specific about what you want to improve and how you will know if you have been successful.

Model for improvement

Driver diagram

A Driver diagram is a tool to help you to organise your improvements in a logical way, so that everyone involved can see how the planned changes will lead to the desired improvement.

Driver diagram

Project plan

A project plan defines the aims, resources, tasks and timeline for a piece of work. It provides a structured framework to ensure everyone understands their roles, manages resources effectively, tracks progress in achieving the aims.

Project plan

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)

PDSA is a technique that allows you to test out improvements in a controlled way so that change can occur gradually, with an awareness of unintended consequences.

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)