The team has adopted principles from the renowned Toyota Production System, following intensive training at the manufacturer’s Lean Management Centre in Deeside.
Principal MRI Radiographer, Claire Kitching was among colleagues across NHS Wales who visited the site for training in Lean Methodology as part of the Suspected Cancer Pathways project.
Funded by the National Strategic Clinical Network for Cancer and delivered in partnership with Improvement Cymru and Toyota, the project has aimed to support multidisciplinary cancer teams across NHS Wales to reduce the time taken between the point of suspicion of cancer and diagnosis.
Responsible for operating five MRI scanners across three sites at Bangor, Glan Clwyd and Wrexham, Claire’s team is now using the Lean Methodology learned from Toyota and working to adopt a culture of continuous improvement to streamline their approach to managing their significant caseload.
Participants of the training with Toyota team encountered the concept of Muda, a Japanese word meaning waste. They were encouraged to think about and question every aspect of their processes and working environment to identify and reduce waste and adopt more effective ways of working to improve patient outcomes.
Inspired by what she had learned, Claire wasted no time in applying Muda and the Lean Methodology in the radiology department. Claire said: “The training was excellent, well-delivered and organised - it was probably the best course I’ve ever been on. It has encouraged me to look at everything around me differently, questioning long-established processes and how we could make improvements to benefit both patients and colleagues.
“The demands on our service are significant, with referrals from intensive care, A&E, GP referrals, inpatients, and cancer specialists. Safety is paramount and every scan has a different requirement, which is reflected in the time we need to allocate to each patient.
“I started with the working environment, getting rid of any unnecessary clutter which was cathartic in itself – giving me the headspace to turn my attention to the data. I started to look at our work patterns and how often the referrals are coming in. By spending time with the data, we could identify pressure points within the system and develop plans to better manage those referrals.
“Within the team we’ve tried to foster a culture of continuous improvement. We have regular team meetings where we aim to introduce one new improvement every week. The small changes start to add up to something bigger, and when you start to see the benefits of this clear, clean and efficient working environment, it’s really motivational.
“I’m really looking forward to building on what we have achieved so far through this new way of working for the benefit of both patients and the team.”