RT2C Team Sessions piloted in Richmond
To further grow the practice of continuous quality improvement across VCH, team sessions are now in place that share the process and learnings to groups so they, too, can share in the patient outcomes created by RT2C.
The first-ever pilot session ran in Richmond on March 16. In it, more than 40 participants from Coastal, Vancouver and Richmond CoC’s spent the morning learning, collaborating and taking part in Gembas across Richmond Hospital to units where RT2C is up-and-running.
According to Lisa Stewart, Quality & Patient Safety, the team sessions pilot is the strategic outcome of a VCH-wide needs assessment where RT2C team members from all levels of leadership, including ward leads, provided feedback on how to make the program successful through competency development, and increased opportunities for connection and collaboration.
RT2C Team Sessions participants also visited Richmond Hospital’s ED.
“Our goal is to use a structured framework to support continuous quality improvement across VCH,” added Stewart. “These team sessions move us closer to that goal by providing education opportunities, creating space for collaboration and sharing, and celebrating teams’ quality improvement work that has great impact on our patients, clients, residents and staff.”
A full four hours of learning
Running for four hours, the sessions offer on-the-ground training for both beginning teams as well as those looking to further refine their quality improvement systems.
The sessions typically begin with an education component that features a guest speaker. At the March 16 session, Matt Summers, VCH management development advisor, presented his “Facilitating Effective Meetings” unit that he modified to better suit the huddle format.
Other education topics at future sessions will range from leadership competencies and root-cause analyses to process mapping and everything in between. After the education component, attendees move into the collaborative sessions where teams present successful quality improvement projects. These presentations will form the beginning a Project Repository currently in development, which will house projects from across the health authority, further enhancing our opportunity to learn from each other.
Finally, participants finish their morning with a Gemba where participants are taken to units where RT2C is embedded into daily practice. The Gemba is an opportunity for all team members including leadership, to come together where the work is done, and have a conversation about meaningful quality improvement.
First but definitely not the last
The first-ever RT2C team session received a 96% favourable response rate from attendees, and plans are already underway to hold a second team session in early summer. Focusing on teamwork and collaboration, this upcoming session will be hosted in partnership by VCH and the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council.
Quality Improvement is for everyone
Created by the UK’s National Health Service, RT2C is a grass-roots program that engages staff in their own environment where they can bring forward real issues for discussion and resolution. Issues can be large or small, but resolving them relies on safe, open conversation about the issues that affect the quality and efficiency of the unit. Ideas are generated by the team. Priorities are identified by the team. Responsibilities are shared by members of the team.