In this session I will be talking with Carl Betts on the anatomy of quality improvement and some of the pitfalls that occur along the way. Carl is a Paramedic for over 10 years and is a quality improvement lead based in Sheffield working for the ambulance service. In this conversation we will look at the pitfalls we can fall into when examining improvement. We will also look at some of the bias’s that can preclude improvement. We will also be talking about how root cause analysis occurs, data collection, pre and post implementation analysis, some of the quality improvement projects on workflow and hospital delays and how that might translate in practice. In the conversation we examine:

• The overview of QI.
• Pitfalls to improvement
• Bias: The WW2 story 
• Bias at work
• RCA – why it’s important and make it relevant to hospital delays
• Why data collection is important
• Why pre and post implementation analysis are important
• Project on hospital delays & ideas that have come from them
• Final thoughts from Carl and take-home messages.

Below is a link to plan, do, study, act cycles that Carl made reference to in the interview. 

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/qsir-pdsa-cycles-model-for-improvement.pdf

Please enjoy this episode with an engaging and insightful guest.