bsns 6351 quality management assignment two
TRANSCRIPT
BSNS 6351 Quality Management
Assignment Two
Investigation into quality management systems, techniques and
tools in business situations
Prepared By: Kendal Johnson
For: Jeffrey Marriot
Date: 2nd June 2011
Contents
1.0 Quality Systems Defined........................................................................................3
1.1 Quality System Training and Implementation.........................................................3
1.2 ISO9000, ISO1400 and TQM Systems..................................................................4
1.3 Quality Tools – ‘The Old Seven’.............................................................................7
1.3.1 Cause and Effect Diagrams.............................................................................8
1.3.2 Check Sheets..................................................................................................9
1.3.3 Control Charts...............................................................................................10
1.3.4 Histograms....................................................................................................10
1.3.5 Pareto Charts................................................................................................12
1.3.6 Scatter Diagrams...........................................................................................12
1.3.7 Flow Charts...................................................................................................13
1.4 Six Sigma.............................................................................................................14
1.5 Quality Awards, Baldrige Award – Purpose and Role..........................................14
2.0 Hospital strives to restore faith in service.............................................................15
2.1 Quality Problems..................................................................................................17
2.1.1 Cannot Supply Demand.................................................................................17
2.1.2 Management commitment to get government resources...............................18
2.1.3 Management of Patients................................................................................19
2.1.4 Staff Hiring and Training................................................................................19
2.2 Quality Solutions..................................................................................................20
2.2.1 Plan, Do, Check, Act.....................................................................................20
2.2.2 Quality Tools..................................................................................................23
2.2.3 Technology....................................................................................................23
2.2.4 Quality of Management......................................................................................24
References:................................................................................................................25
Examination of the various quality systems that are appropriate to New Zealand
organisations
1.0 Quality Systems Defined
A quality system is the overall approach an organisation uses to carry out quality
management. It contains guidelines on what is to be done and who is to do it. Its
objectives are to satisfy customers, align the product or service with the organisations
strategy and make continuous improvements. This can be more clearly defined by
Goetsch & Davis (2011): “The quality management system is composed of all the
organisation’s policies, procedures, plans, resources, processes and delineation of
responsibility and authority, all deliberately aimed at achieving product or service quality
levels consistent with customer satisfaction and the organisation’s objectives. When
these policies, procedures, plans and so forth are taken together, they define how the
organisation work and how quality is managed.” Using this concept there have been
many people, organisations and collective groups that have developed and
implemented a quality system of some sort. Some choose to adopt the principles used
by theorists and successful organisations; others may choose to develop their own
unique system that works for their specific organisation. The following will look into
some of the quality systems that are appropriate for New Zealand organisations.
1.1 Quality System Training and Implementation
The New Zealand Organisation for Quality (NZOQ), which is a “non-profit professional
society, dedicated to providing leadership in the adoption of the principles of quality
management and best practice in New Zealand.” (NZOQ, 2011). Although it is not a
Quality Management System, it is recognised as facilitating the education and
promoting best practices for other New Zealand organisations to compete with world
class business performance. It offers training in the following areas: Quality Assurance,
Systems Auditing, Internal Auditor Training, Internal Auditor Online, Practical Quality
Management Skills, Quality in Healthcare, Project Management, ISO 31000 Risk
Management, ISO14001 Environmental Management, ISO9001 Management Briefing
and Lean Six Sigma. (NZOQ, 2011). The NZOQ is one of many organisations that offer
some form of training in quality management. Examples of other organisations involved
with quality training are; The Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications
Authority (NZQA), New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), Universities,
Polytechnics and many others. It is important to recognise this aspect of the process
because proper training allows organisations to implement quality systems with
employees that are educated in the area of quality. Education promotes employee
empowerment and puts them in a better place to take on decision making and
autonomy of their role whatever level of the organisation they might be in. The training
courses teach people how to use tools that are found in many quality systems e.g.
charts, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, histograms and many more. They
learn not only how to use them but how to use them for decision making. In any
situation if you are going to give someone tools to work with you must also give them
training in how to use the tools.
So how does an organisation know which quality management tools to use in order to
create the optimal quality system for them? Ideally it will be a process of implementing
tools and creating systems with an openness to change. It is reasonable to say that a
quality system is developed with the intention to improve over time and direct all
organisation resources towards attaining a product or service that meets customer
requirements and continuous improvement. The organisation might not choose the
right combination of tools to use from the beginning, however the system can be
checked and changes made to improve it, also making sure that it complements the
organisation’s mission and strategy. The size of the organisation also has a huge part to
play in how large or detailed the quality system is. For smaller organisations there may
not be the need or resources to focus much attention towards a quality management
system e.g. a corner dairy or a stall holder at the local market. A larger company or one
that has a product or service that has a unique design for each customer may need a
more extensive quality system in place e.g. Pharmaceutical companies or law firms.
The following will investigate some widely used quality systems that are appropriate for
organisations in New Zealand.
1.2 ISO9000, ISO1400 and TQM Systems
ISO is the International organisation for standardisation. It is the largest developer and
publisher of international standards operating with a framework of 162 countries co-
ordinated by a central secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. “ISO enables a consensus to
be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader
needs of society” (ISO, 2011). For many New Zealand organisations competing in the
international market, having an internationally recognised and standardised system will
be a competitive advantage. Having a widely recognised system or accreditation can
give customers confidence that the product or service will arrive to them in the highest
possible standard and at a low price since waste is minimised.
The ISO9000 family focuses on “what the organisation does to fulfil the customer’s
quality requirements and applicable regulatory requirements while aiming to enhance
customer satisfaction and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit
of these objectives.” (ISO, 2011). This system is applicable to any organisation whether
it is in the private or public sector. It can work for organisations of all sizes and applies
to the facets of the organisation that can have an impact on the product or service
quality. ISO 9001 is the only standard in the family against which organisations can be
certified. It is based on eight principles from total quality management (TQM):
1. Customer Focus – Understanding needs, meeting requirements and
exceeding expectations
2. Leadership – Establish unity of purpose and organisational direction.
Promote employee involvement in achievement of objectives.
3. Involvement of People – Take advantage of fully involved employees,
utilise all their abilities to the organisations advantage.
4. Process Approach – Things accomplished are a result of processes.
Processes along with related activities and resources must be managed.
5. System Approach to Management – Multiple interrelated processes that
contribute to an organisations effectiveness are a system and should be
managed as a system
6. Continual Improvement – Should be a permanent objective applied to the
organisation and to its people, processes, systems and products.
7. Factual Approach to Decision Making – Decisions must be based on the
analysis of accurate, relevant and reliable data and information.
8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships – Both organisation and
Supplier benefiting from each other’s resources and knowledge result in
value for all. (Goetch & Davis, 2010)
A research undertaken by Canterbury University and NZOQ looked into the type size,
spread and benefits of adopting ISO 9000 in New Zealand. They found out the key
statistics showed why it is beneficial to implement the system. “NZ ISO 9000 certified
companies are motivated to get ISO 9000 certification because of improved quality,
marketing benefits and improved corporate image. The benefits gained after the ISO
9000 certification seem to be largely of internal nature such as improved internal
procedures and improved quality. NZ patterns of ISO 9000 certification are comparable
with patterns identified in other developed countries such as US, Australia, France.”
(Castka, Balzarova and Kenny, 2006).
No organisation is required by government to achieve ISO9001 accreditation. Some
organisations may encourage or require their suppliers to be ISO 9000 registered to
keep their own product under the system throughout the whole supply chain, however it
is the choice of management whether to adopt ISO9000 or not. Management must be
involved and support the system entirely as they lead the culture of this system feeding
it right down through the whole organisation. It is important that management’s motives
to implement ISO 9000 are appropriate. “Ideally management will adopt ISO 9000 as a
way to make real improvements in the company’s operations, service its customers in a
more responsible way, and, as a result, be more successful” (Goetsch & Davis, p.342).
Implementing it to look good just for a marketing point of view will not work.
TQM stands for Total Quality Management. This idea was created in Japan during the
1950’s with the help of ideas from Dr. Walter Shewhart and Dr. W. Edwards Deming.
Japan needed to recover their place in the international market after World War II and
create a new confidence in their U.S. customers that their products were of high quality.
The Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle was developed with a function to operate as a never-
ending loop of continual improvement. “The cycle made its way to ISO 9000 and is said
to be the operating principle of ISO’s management system standards”. (Goetsch &
Davis,p.334). Total Quality Management came before ISO standards. They originated
independently from each other at different times in different places in the world. ISO
was developed in response to a growing need to harmonise dozens of national and
international standards.
The relationship between TQM and ISO 9000 is that they work in conjunction with each
other but are not the same. The main point of difference being that TQM is concerned
with transforming every function and level of the organisation from top to bottom to
adopt “teachings of Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, and others with criteria defined by
Deming’s fourteen points, Juran’s ten steps to quality improvement and the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award, it is more pervasive and demanding” (Goetsch &
Davis, p.340). ISO 9000 is more specific being concentrated on quality management
systems alone. ISO 9000 can be part of a larger total quality management environment
but it can also be implemented on its own in organisations that have not adopted TQM.
ISO 14000 is worth mentioning as it is concerned with “Environmental Management”. Its
aims are to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities,
and to achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance (ISO, 2011).
This is beneficial for New Zealand environment but also impacts the view that the
employees, external stakeholders and the community have on an organisation. This is
appropriate for many New Zealand organisations who like to portray an image of being
environmentally responsible.
Some problems that may occur when TQM and other quality systems are implemented
are; Lack of co-ordination between systems, differences in philosophy of different
systems (can’t ensure systems are followed), multiple audits for multiple systems –
audit fatigue and lots of resources being expended maintaining various systems (CQA,
p.5.24, 2006). As stated earlier, creating a quality management system is a process of
change. Being open to problem solving, trying new ideas and where possible seeking
simple solutions. Teams work to reduce, eliminate and prevent quality deficiencies
through continual improvement. This is where we can examine some quality tools used
in the quality management field.
1.3 Quality Tools – ‘The Old Seven’
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a professor of engineering at Tokyo University, believed that there
were seven basic tools of quality that were indispensible. They support a ‘management
by facts’ approach, where every decision or solution to a problem is carefully analysed
using appropriate analysis of relevant data, rather than making quick decisions based
on gut feelings and experience. (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). These tools are appropriate
to any New Zealand organisation and used correctly embrace the implementation of
quality management systems. They are commonly known as; 1) Cause and effect
diagram (also called Ishikawa fishbone chart, 2) Check Sheets, 3) Control Charts, 4)
Histograms, 5) Pareto Charts, 6) Scatter Diagrams and 7) Flow Charts.
1.3.1 Cause and Effect Diagrams
Invented by Dr Kaoru Ishikawa, it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Ishikawa Diagram’ or
‘Fishbone Diagram’, since its shape resembles the skeleton of a fish. This is used by
teams as a kind of brainstorming template to identify and isolate root causes of a
problem. Below is an example of a cause and effect diagram used by the American
Society for Quality (ASQ):
These diagrams produce a picture of the processes that make up the system creating
the product or service. It enables you to easily see the relationships between the
possible major and minor causes of a problem. The spine points to the “effect”, which in
this diagram is iron in product. The ribs represent “causes” are assigned to what are
considered ‘major factors’ leading to the effect. The minor factors leading to the effect,
branch off the ribs. As seen above the major causes can be broken into six categories;
measurements, materials, methods, machines, manpower and the environment. As
stated by Goetsch & Davis (2010) “The key to the diagram’s usefulness is that it is very
possible that no one individual had all that knowledge and information. That is why
cause-and-effect diagrams are normally created by teams of people widely divergent in
their expertise”. Teamwork is the idea behind Deming’s 9th point which is to break down
barriers between staff areas. It is good practice for any organisation to utilise the skills
of all their employees and encourage departments to work together. Quality
management promotes the wisdom of many over the knowledge of one.
1.3.2 Check Sheets
Check sheets are used primarily to collect data. They can take on many forms and the
only requirements are that data entry only requires a check mark and the data must be
easily translated into useful information. Manually collecting the data is usually the
responsibility of the operator. If this collection is a part of managing the business or
improving quality, something more organised can not only increase the reliability of the
data, it can also save time in creating data and charts that are immediately useful
(Syque, 2011). Below are some examples of different check sheets retrieved from
Syque Quality (2011):
Deciding what sort of data you need is the first step in designing a form that fits the type
of data to be collected and suits the people that have to use it. Check sheets must be
tested by someone else that was not involved in the design of the sheet. Revise the
Checklist Tally
Chart
Location
Plot
sheet as necessary and finally design a tally sheet to summarise the data from
individual forms (if necessary). (Goetsh & Davis, 2010)
1.3.3 Control Charts
Control charts are made of data plotted on graphs to record or show how a process
changes over time. It has a line in the centre representing the average. It has an upper
line marking the upper control limit and a lower line marking the lower control limit.
These lines are created using historical data and are used to monitor the current
process to ensure it stays within the specified control limits. Similar to this is a ‘Run
Chart’, which also displays trends in data over time except a run chart does not have
upper and lower limits. The usefulness of having the upper and lower limits in a control
chart is being able to detect the special causes from the common causes. It also sends
a signal that something is wrong if the line penetrates either of these limits or has
several points in a row above or below the average line. This gives you a better chance
to prevent the problem from occurring rather than detecting it afterwards. An example
of what a control chart looks like:
1.3.4 Histograms
A histogram shows frequency distributions. That is how many over what spread. The
shape of the distribution conveys important information about the data. This statistical
method of displaying data usually requires some form of training or at least a basic
Source: Washington Interactive Training Guides
(2011)
understanding in statistics to interpret. According to the American Society for Quality
(ASQ) 2011, histograms are used:
When the data are numerical.
When you want to see the shape of the data’s distribution, especially
when determining whether the output of a process is distributed
approximately normally.
When analyzing whether a process can meet the customer’s
requirements.
When analyzing what the output from a supplier’s process looks like.
When seeing whether a process change has occurred from one time
period to another.
When determining whether the outputs of two or more processes are
different.
When you wish to communicate the distribution of data quickly and easily
to others.
An example of a Histogram used in a New Zealand Banking Organisation is from the
Westpac Banking Corporation, 2009:
The histograms are a useful tool to determine when a market price is statistically
stretched, and therefore more likely to revert towards the mean. It can indicate useful
contrarian market signals but the distribution should have a normal, or bell shape, so
that statistical inferences have validity. (Westpac Banking Corporation, 2009)
1.3.5 Pareto Charts
The Pareto Chart is named after Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto who
“had the insight to recognise that in the real world a minority of causes lead to the
majority of problems.” (Goetsch & Davis, p.352). The theory suggests that hat 80
percent of the problems stem from 20 percent of the causes. The purpose of a Pareto
chart is to show the organisation where to put its resources by identifying the significant
few causes of problems from the trivial many. It sorts the data in the form of a bar graph
from largest to smallest so that the biggest problems can be identified and addressed
first. It often has a line indicating the cumulative percentage.
This tool saves organisations wasting valuable resources and keeps cost to a minimum
so that the product or service can be delivered to the customer at a competitively low
price.
1.3.6 Scatter Diagrams
This is the simplest of the seven tools and is used to determine the correlation
(relationship) between two variables. One variable is labelled on the x axis and one on
the y axis. If there is a obvious linear relationship (straight line) it means it is very likely
that there is a correlation between the variables. If the scatter plot is spread out over
the graph it indicates there is little or no correlation. The closer the data points get to
forming a straight slope, either upward or downward the stronger the relationship
between the two variables. Here is an example from the New Zealand Ministry of
Education (2010): The actual weights and self-perceived ideal weights of a random
sample of 40 female university students enrolled in an introductory Statistics course at
the University of Auckland are displayed on the scatter plot below.
Source: VectorStudy.com
(2008)
This graph shows a positive linear correlation. As actual weight increases so does ideal
weight.
1.3.7 Flow Charts
Flowcharts are a graphic representation of a process and have been promoted by both
Deming and Juran. Creating a flowchart is a necessary step in improving a process. It
can be revealing to ask several different team members to flowchart the process and
identify any difference in the understanding of the process as this could be a significant
problem. Another strategy is to ask them to flow chart the current process and then
flowchart how they think it should be. This can help identify causes of problems and
suggest improvement possibilities (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). Flowcharts use an
internationally recognised set of symbols to represent the various actions, inputs and
outputs. Flowcharts can be as simple or complex as needed. The following is a very
simple flowchart created by Biosecurity NZ (2010) illustrating the process for when a
member of the public has a suspected Didymo find:
1.4 Six Sigma
Introduced by Motorola in the mid 1980’s, the purpose of this innovative concept is to
improve process performance to the point where the defect rate is less than 3.4 per
million. (Goetch & Davis, 2011). It is a widely used quality tool, however is more
appropriate for manufacturing rather than service industries.
1.5 Quality Awards, Baldrige Award – Purpose and Role
National Quality Awards have been created to motivate and encourage organisations in
both the private and public sectors to adopt a quality culture. Quality awards recognise
organisations that demonstrate exemplary performance in the way they run their
business; the quality of their goods and/or services and the delivery of ever-improving
value to customers resulting in improved marketplace performance (CQA, p.7.1, 2006).
The Baldrige Award is named after Malcolm Baldrige who was the Secretary of
Commerce and an advocate of quality management as a key to U.S. prosperity and
sustainability in the early 1980’s. He was killed in a rodeo accident in July 1987,
Congress named the Award in recognition of his contributions (NIST, 2010). The
Baldrige Award and TQM are similar in the fact they depend on ideas from Deming,
where it is essential for managers to develop profound knowledge of quality. The
Baldrige Award and ISO 9000 are similar where they are both orientated to customer,
process and continuous improvement.
Other Quality Awards that are applicable to New Zealand organisations are the New
Zealand Business Excellence Awards (NZBEA) and the Performance Excellence Study
Awards (PESA). When the Criteria of the Baldrige Award changes so do both of the
New Zealand awards (CQA, 2006)
Although the primary purpose of quality awards is to educate organisations in the
practices of quality, it can also be motivation to strive to become the best they can be.
As Chris Leavy, Plant Manager at the Toyota Thames Assembly Plant (Winner of the
NZ Quality Award 1993), Stated: “ISO certification is like getting a licence to drive but it
does not necessarily make you a good driver. It is only a starting point” (CQA, p.7.3,
2006). This is where benchmarking can be useful. Its objectives are to majorly improve
the organisations performance by focussing on processes. This is done between
consenting organisation by comparing with a best-in class performer. (Goetsch & Davis)
Applying appropriate Quality Tools to a New Zealand Organisation with Quality
Problems
2.0 Hospital strives to restore faith in service
North Shore Hospital is trying to restore faith in its services following a spate of medical
horror stories. In early May 2011 60-year-old grandmother Shirley Curtis died at the
hospital after a nurse gave her 10 times the prescribed dose of a beta blocker.
Waitemata DHB admitted the dosage was wrong but it is waiting on investigations to
determine the cause of death. However the case prompted other potentially fatal
mistakes to come out of the woodwork (TVNZ, 2011). On Saturday May 14th (2011)
North Shore Hospital admitted to TVNZ ONE News the nature of many other serious
problems that had occurred with patients in their care:
1. Graeme Griffiths was gravely ill with cancer and passed without the dignity he
deserved. He was soaked up to the chest in urine and the nursing staff would
say that they changed him when they clearly hadn’t. His medication was
forgotten, he was starved while awaiting tests one day and on another
occasion left unattended in the shower for 30 minutes. The staff found him
unconscious in the shower and thought he had died. He eventually died at age
65 in may 2010. When the family complained, North Shore Hospital sent an
apology letter back admitting the care was substandard.
2. Tony Ciora was admitted in November 2008 with a fractured back. He was
given Panadol, a gastric injection in the stomach, an intravenous antibiotic and
a blood thinner. But all this was actually another patient's prescription. He was
getting his own medication at the time so ended up with a double dose. Cioras
family spoke to the nurse who seemed shocked and admitted to a mistake
being made, letting them know they were within their rights to complain. When
the family pursued this complaint it was dismissed because no incident report
was made at the time. The family took it to the Health and Disability
commissioner who suggested mediation. The family were stunned by the fact
the mistake was covered up.
A report carried out by the health and disability commissioner in 2007 uncovered many
more quality problems in its service, in particular elderly patients. The following
complaints were revealed (Health and Disability Commissioner, October 2007):
1. Ms A was 82 when she was admitted to North Shore Hospital ECC (Emergency Care Centre) from her rest home on 1 April 2007, with gastric bleeding. She spent 36 hours in ECC. The complaint from her partner was about her care, the lack of communication and support when she was discharged, and two days after her discharge, it was discovered that she had a fractured right hip. Ms A was readmitted to North Shore Hospital on 6 April for surgery to repair the fracture. She died eight days later.
2. Mrs B (81 years) was admitted to the ECC on 6 July 2007 after being airlifted from the United States where she had spent a month in hospital after a severe stroke. She had also suffered a heart attack. Mrs B was transferred to ward 11 with breathing difficulties and in heart failure on the afternoon of 6 July, and died there on 14 July 2007. Her son, a doctor, complained that his mother‘s deteriorating condition and his requests for medical assessment were not given the necessary priority.
3. Mrs C (85 years) was referred to North Shore Hospital on 25 September 2007 by her GP for assessment and treatment of heart problems. After four hours in ECC she was transferred to ward 10. Two days later her condition deteriorated. Her family raised concerns that this was caused by the codeine she had been given. She died on the ward on 28 September 2007.
4. Mr D was 73 when he was admitted as a self-referral to the ECC on 20 September 2007, with hyperventilation, anxiety and a heart condition. He had been diagnosed and treated for lymphoma earlier in the year. Mr D was transferred to ward 11 after six hours in ECC. His family were anxious about his breathing problems and reluctance to eat, and the lack of care. They thought he was dying and were frustrated by a lack of communication about his condition and that the doctors believed he could be rehabilitated. On 18 October, Mr D was discharged to a private hospital at the family‘s request, but stayed there only hours before being transferred back to North Shore Hospital with an exacerbation of his heart condition. He died in the ECC on 19 October 2007.
5. Mrs E (79 years) was referred to North Shore Hospital on 17 October 2007 by her GP, with possible pneumonia. She spent about 12 hours in ECC where she experienced delays in calls for assistance to get to the toilet. Mrs E was transferred to ward 10. She experienced delays in nursing responses to her calls for assistance, and a lack of hygiene in the ward. Mrs E was discharged home on 19 October 2007 and made a good recovery.
The stories are raising the question of how there could apparently be such frequent
systems failures around patient care and administration of medications.
2.1 Quality Problems
Quality problems are a result of a failure in the system. In an interview on Close Up,
may 18th 2011, the WDHB chairman, Dr Lester Levy, said the “paradox of modern
health systems is that they are very good but not perfect, and that tiny gap is a place of
absolute heartbreak because it can cause devastating impacts; and we have seen one
of those in recent times”. He was being interviewed after the incident of Shirley Curtis
being given 125ml of Beta Blocker instead of 12.5ml. Ultimately the person reading the
dose prescribed failed to either notice or see the decimal point. In good quality
management, when something goes you should never blame the person, you blame the
system. Dr Levy was asked by Close Up if a case like this can be accepted as the odds
of human error, he replied: “No, if we accept some of these things we will become
complacent. We have to battle to reduce and ultimately we have to believe that we can
eliminate. The problem being, every time there is a patient, a system and a healthcare
professional intercept there is a moment of truth. Healthcare is very routinised and
unless healthcare workers take every moment as a new moment of truth, error will
happen”. Watching this interview it appears the chairman has the right approach to
quality, but is this culture feeding down throughout all the staff members at North Shore
Hospital? When there are problems occurring, we need to look at the problems in the
system and find solutions to make continuous improvement. The following will
investigate further into the problems that are occurring.
2.1.1 Cannot Supply Demand
The North Shore Hospital has been put under pressure by a demand for its services far
greater than it is built for. This creates longer waiting times for patients, crowded
facilities and puts staff under great amounts of stress. Longer waiting times can put
patients at risk or distress, crowded facilities carry the risk of cross-contamination or
having to turn patients away that are not high priority and adding to this stressed staff
are more likely to make mistakes. The report by the Health and Disability Commissioner
has identified some key statistics on the subject.
Hospitals operate most efficiently when they are, on average, at 85%. In the
Auckland region, hospitals are typically at between 95% and 110%
occupancy in winter. When a hospital is full, there is a backlog effect,
creating overcrowding in the emergency department. This increases risk to
patients. Decreasing the occupancy rate is also important for infection
control, to prevent cross-infection and multi-drug-resistant organisms. There
is evidence that when emergency departments are more than 90% full, it can
result in unnecessary harm to patients and reduced staff morale and
retention. (2009, p.7)
The North Shore Hospital is under the Waitemata District Health Board (WDHB). The
only other hospital in this region is the Waitakere Hospital, which for adults the
he ECC is open from 8am to 10pm seven days a week for walk-in patients. After 10pm
patients are directed to North Shore Hospital's ECC, or to the Lincoln Rd White Cross
Clinic.
For children (under 15): 24 hours, 7 days per week (WDHB, 2010). This means
ambulances collecting adult patients in the Waitemata region are also directed to North
Shore after 10pm.This comes down the the problem of insufficient resources.
2.1.2 Management commitment to get government resources
Up until now, there seems to have been a lack of resources for the North Shore Hospital
to upsize in order to meet its increasing demand. Hospitals receive funding through a
population based funding formula which is based on the demographical makeup of the
area it services. “Waitemata DHB has long believed that this formula is inequitable
because it gives too much emphasis to the relative wealth of its North Shore population
and insufficient recognition to unmet need in Waitakere and the additional costs of
serving the rural population in Rodney. It believes it has been (and continues to be)
underfunded for the size and demographic make-up of its population and that this is
getting worse.” (Health and Disability Commissioner, 2009). Insufficient funding means
there is a lack of financial resources to make necessary improvements to the quality of
service. Quality improvement requires management commitment, so why have they not
looked to other revenues in order to get the resources they need. Other hospitals such
as Christchurch Hospital and Greenlane Hospital, have cafeterias and gift shops that
bring extra revenue. If quality of service is being jeopardised by a lack of financial
resources, commitment from top management is needed to solve the problem by finding
ways to come up with the necessary money to improve facilities in order to provide a
better quality service.
2.1.3 Management of Patients
The hospital has systems in place to direct the flow of a patient through its services. Its
efficiency relies on the ability of staff in different departments working cooperatively
together whilst competing for limited resources; this in itself is a contradiction. How a
patient arrives to the hospital determines the path they follow through the hospital. All
patients are seen by a triage nurse on arrival who allocates a code that reflects how
urgently they need to be seen by the ECC medical team. “There are four zones in North
Shore Hospital‘s ECC: the Resuss Zone for patients requiring resuscitation or immediate
assessment and treatment; the Monitored Zone for those requiring urgent medical attention
and/or close nursing monitoring; the Acute Zone where all acute presentations are initially
assessed and treated; and the Observation Zone for patients needing short-term, continual
care. Patients assessed as needing a hospital bed for 18 hours or less, are kept in the
Observation Zone.” (Health and Disability commissioner, p.10)
Patients needing a hospital bed can only have one ordered by a member of the relevant
specialist team. This would increase their waiting times in ECC if they are always
waiting upon another team to arrive and make the decision. It seems there is either a
lack of expertise or autonomy with the staff in the ECC department on decisions relating
to patient flow through the hospital. This is also compounded often by the fact that there
may be no available beds in a ward that a patient needs to be treated in. In this case
they are put in another ward and are called “outliers”, receiving poorer treatment. “The
house officer is responsible for monitoring the progress of the patients, and their
treatment and discharge. The registrar oversees the house officers and provides clinical
advice. When there is no house officer for a team, a trainee intern or fifth-year medical
student covers the house officer duties. The house officers may cover for other teams if
they are a doctor short. There are 5 wards which have between 34 and 36 beds, which can
mean that the on-call house officer is responsible for the welfare of 140 patients” (Health
and Disability Commissioner, 2009). That is a lot of responsibility for one person.
2.1.4 Staff Hiring and Training
Insufficient staff numbers at the hospital are a result of a failure in the recruiting process and
succession planning. The system used to employ staff should alert managers long before
there is a shortage that has an impact on the quality of patient service. Management should
have plans in place for when key staffs leave. In the 2007 and 2008 North Shore Hospital
had 340 budgeted nursing positions but 59 vacancies, representing a 17% vacancy in the
inpatient wards of the Adult Health Services. Occupancy at North Shore Hospital was at
100% over much of this period. During the winter months and at other peak times in
2006/2007, it was common for average staffing levels in the wards to be one nurse to six to
seven patients (or more) during the day and 12 patients at night. (Health and Disability
Commissioner, 2009). Inadequate staff means the workload and pressure increases on the
remaining staff adding to the drop in morale, risking their health and possibly driving them to
find work in better conditions.
2.2 Quality Solutions
No quality system, criterion or philosophy will provide the single solution to an
organisations quality problems. A sound quality programme can be implemented by an
organisation using ISO9001, the Baldrige award with its criteria and TQM only if it
actually makes the effort to use the elements and their associated tools to create,
maintain and continuously improve real quality (CQA, p.7.2, 2006). North shore hospital
can have solutions suggested to improve its quality, the managers can acknowledge
their deficiencies in the quality of its service and verbalise their intentions to improve
quality but it will require commitment to change which is a thorough process requiring
action and consistent follow-up. It demands the North Shore Hospital has a culture
change spreading to every staff member in every department. Finding solutions is not
just about restoring public image, failure in quality has resulted in people losing their
lives; it is a number one priority to take solutions seriously. This means every employee
understanding the possible impact they could have if they choose not to follow the
procedures and processes put in place.
2.2.1 Plan, Do, Check, Act
This is one of the main two models for solving and preventing problems. Originated by
Dr. Walter Shewhart and promoted by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, it is a continual
improvement model in the form of a cycle, it keeps going. The second cycle will begin
and take into consideration everything that is learned from the first cycle; then there will
be a third, fourth etc. (Goetsch & Davis, 2010). For the problems that have occurred in
the North Shore Hospital, solutions need to be long lasting and eliminate the possibility
of reoccurrence. Using this cycle allows an organisation to get continuous
improvements and become closer to meeting the customers’ expectations every time.
The desirable outcome would not only be a safer hospital but also to have people
leaving feeling they had the best possible care while there. Goetsch & Davis (2010)
explain the cycle as follows taking the liberty to replace act with adjust:
1. Plan – If corrective action is to be taken, a number of activities should be
undertaken. Problem must be defined, relevant information gathered, root cause
of the problem identified, possible solutions developed and considered, and the
best alternative selected for implementation. All of this needs to be done by
people carefully selected on the basis of their association with the process
involved and their special relevant skills, experience, and so on.
2. Do – Implement the solution chosen as best – the one most likely to produce the
desired result.
3. Check – Monitor the implemented solution and gather data relevant to the
original problem and any other areas that might be of concern e.g. unintended
consequences of the solution. Analyse the data to determine whether the
solution eliminated the problem (or made it much less likely to occur).
4. Adjust – If the check step confirmed that the problem has been eliminated and
that it is not likely to recur, then the job is done. If it was found that the solution
has not accomplished the intended result or that there is still a possibility of
recurrence, then an adjustment will need to be made to the implemented
solution. This can also mean discard the implemented solution and try a different
approach. Whether the implemented solution has failed completely or does not
quite measure up to expectation, the conceptual adjustment will be carried
forward to the plan step of another PDCA cycle.
Repeat this as many times as necessary until the problem is solved. Maybe go back
and look at the original problem with the insight you have gained prom the process.
Looking at the Shirley Curtis case where the wrong dosage of medication was given,
the PDCA could be applied as follows.
1. Plan – The problem has been defined above as incorrect translation of
prescribed medication. The information gathered above in the case stories found
the doctor prescribed 12.5ml Beta Blocker and the nurse administered 125ml.
To define the root cause of the problem a team or specialists will have to be
involved, such as the doctor and nurse involved, specialists that deal with that
particular medication and a few more angles of insight by other nurses that work
in similar roles and maybe someone from the organisation that has experience in
dealing with documentation and improvement to forms and other communication
tools that were used in the process. To find the root cause the team could use
root cause analysis in way of the Ishikawa Diagram (Explain earlier in 1.3.1).
Breaking the system down into its main factors that affect the outcome and then
from there brainstorming the more minor factors that may lead to the incorrect
medication dose being given. They need to ask why, why, why, why, why.
Making the best use of this planning stage and the precious time these staff have
together to address this lots of questions need to be asked to help fill up the
Ishikawa diagram maximising the brainstorming process. Once the root cause or
causes have been identified solutions can be developed and considered. One
suggestion I had was to have upper and lower control limits written next to every
medicine that is to be administered. This may mean changes to documentation
so they are easier to read, maybe even a way to eliminate the doctor’s hand
writing all together and have it digitally compiled. Check sheets could be made
where the medication gets checked not once but by two other staff on a check
sheet that needs to be signed and dated for accountability, encouraging them to
be through. These are only a few ideas but with a team comprised of specialist
people and people that work with the processes every day, I’m sure they would
have many suggestions on how to improve the process to eliminate the chances
of a patient getting the wrong dose of a medicine.
2. Do – Implement the solution the team chose. For example with the check sheets
stating an upper and lower limit of safe dosages clearly printed in red either side
of a box where the doctor can prescribe the medicine for the patient. Or maybe
like banks have a form with pre printed decimal places to make it clearer to read.
Doctor’s handwriting is notorious for being untidy.
3. Check – Are the check sheets getting used properly, is there enough staff to
double check doses are correct. A possible consequence that may have come up
is putting more demand on an already overloaded team. However if is it looking
like the problem is eliminated or less likely to occur then well done.
4. Adjust; Check if the process has been followed and review its effectiveness to
solve or reduce the problem. Can any more changes be made? Is this the right
solution?
As this example above has been done, it can be used to investigate and implement
solutions for every problem the hospital comes across.
2.2.2 Quality Tools
The North Shore Hospital management should make use of all the 7 Quality tools
discussed earlier in this report. Collecting more information and data on the problems
that the Hospital is facing is essential. This can be done by; putting up customer
comment boxes throughout the hospital, sending patients home with questionnaires
about the service to return, asking volunteer staff such as St John Workers who spend a
lot of time with patients, asking staff, creating quality circles, looking into historical data
on incidents and more. This information can be interpreted into Histograms and Pareto
charts which will highlight the areas they need to focus on first. Cause and effect
diagrams will help quality teams to identify what the root causes of many problems are.
With the problem of ECC staff waiting for specialists to come and book beds for patients
in the wards, maybe ECC staff could do this themselves with the help of flowcharts. If
the flowcharts are designed by a team with the right expertise they should be able to
follow the chart to work out which ward is best for their inbound patient. Then it would
only be a case of using a telephone to ring and check availability or use an electronic
bed allocating system.
Control charts are useful for Hospitals; they get used to monitor patient’s heart rates
blood pressures and levels of substances they can be tested for. The Shirley Curtis
case is still under review so there is no information on whether a control chart was
supplied to monitor the dosage she was given. I suggest they are implemented for all
medicines, since this seems to be one of the most common errors occurring.
2.2.3 Technology
The possibility of finding the solutions might lie in modern technology by taking more of
the human component out of the process. In an article published by ONE News, on May
22 2011, says a new electronic medicine checker could prevent deaths. It states:
"We haven't released the full results ... but we know that in comparison we've
reduced errors by well over 90%," internal medicine specialist Dr Andrew Bowers
told ONE News. The actual number is 98%.Currently, doctors and nurses up and
down the country use a paper chart, but all too often the writing can be illegible,
the dosages can be miscalculated and sometimes the charts have to be re-
transcribed up to three times. With the new electronic system, none of those
problems are likely to occur. It has multiple prompts to ensure the wrong dose
cannot be accidentally calculated, as well as fail-safe measures to eliminate other
errors. "In fact, it even rounds the dose down to the correct vial size so the nursing
staff have a very specific instruction on how to complete this," said Bowers. "The
nurse is incapable of administering medications at the wrong time and the wrong
date." Staff can be trained to apply the system in two weeks. He said the system is
so efficient the nurses already using it have indicated there would "be a riot" if the
system was shut down. (TVNZ, 2011)
It is now Managements responsibility to drive the implementation of these new
machines, provide staff training and follow up on the success or failure of the new
computerised systems.
2.2.4 Quality of Management
In summary, quality management is all about the quality of management. Chairman of
the WDHB Lester Levy was only appointed 15months ago and promotes himself as
already making significant improvements and is leading upgrades to the hospital this
year totalling $126 Million (TVNZ, 2011). Watching the interview with him on Close Up,
it is easy to see that he understands the philosophy behind quality. The quality of North
Shore Hospital service is the responsibility of all its employees, and organisation culture
must be lead from the top down to encourage a philosophy of striving to attain the
highest possible standard of care at every point of contact they have with their patients.
Using the 8 points of TQM covered at the beginning of this report; customer focus,
leadership, involvement of people, process approach, systems approach to
management, continual improvement, factual approach to decision making and mutually
beneficial supplier relationships, management can begin to adopt total quality. It is
managements’ responsibility to make sure they have adequate resources to make this
happen. North Shore Hospital has a good chance to restore faith in its service quality.
References:
American Society for Quality (ASQ), (2011) Cause analysis tools. Retrieved May 29,
2011 from the World Wide Web: http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/cause-analysis-
tools/overview/fishbone.html
Biosecurity New Zealand (2010). Didymo long term management plan. Retrieved May
29, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/taxonomy/term/1257
Castka P., Balzarova M.A. & Kenny J. (2006) Survey of ISO 9000 users in New
Zealand – Drivers and Benefits. New Zealand Organisation For Quality:
Canterbury University
Certificate in Quality Assurance (CQA) Volume 1, New Zealand Organisation for
Quality. (2006) TQM and Quality Systems. Nelson Marlborough Institute of
Technology: Author.
Goetsch, D. L. & Davis, S. B. (2010). Quality management for organisational
excellence: introduction to total quality (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson
Health and Disability Commissioner (2009). North shore hospital march to ctober 2007. (Report No.Case 07HDC21742) Auckland – Office of the Health and Disability Comissioner
ISO – International Organisation for Standardisation (2011). About ISO. Retrieved May
28, 2011 from the World Wide Web: http://www.iso.org/iso/about.htm
New Zealand Ministry Of Education (2010). NZ Maths – Scatterplot. Retrieved from May
27, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/category/glossary/scatter-plot
NIST- National Institute of Standards and Technology (2010). Baldrige performance
excellence program – history. Retrieved May 30, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/about/history.cfm
NQOQ – New Zealand Organisation for Quality (2011). About the new zealand
organisation for quality. Retrieved May 27, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.nzoq.org.nz/about-nzoq_about-nzoq.php
Syque Quality (2011). Tools and techniques for business improvements. Retrieved May
28, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://syque.com/quality_tools/tools/Tools27.htm
TVNZ (2011). Electronic medicine checker could prevent deaths – One news article
Sunday may 22nd. Retrieved May 28, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/electronic-medicine-checker-could-prevent-deaths-
4183749
TVNZ (2011). Hospital strives to restore faith in service - One news article wednesday
may 18th. Retrieved May 28, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/hospital-strives-restore-faith-in-service-4178885
TVNZ (2011). More errors revealed in hospitals horror stories. Retrieved May 28, 2011
from the World Wide Web: http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/more-errors-revealed-in-
hospital-horror-stories-4170994
Vector Study.Com (2008) Pareto chart – management theories. Retrieved May 28, 2011
from the World Wide Web:
http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_theories/pareto_chart.htm
Waitemata District Health Board (2010). Emergency care centre. Retrieved May 30,
2011 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/PatientsVisitors/WTKemergencycare.aspx
Washington Interactive Training Guides (2011) Control Charts. Retrieved May 28, 2011
from the World Wide Web:
http://training.ce.washington.edu/wsdot/Modules/08_specifications_qa/
control_charts.htm
Westpac Banking Corporation – New Zealand Division (2009) NZ 2 Year Swap.
Retrieved May 28, 2011 from the World Wide Web:
https://research.corp.westpac.co.nz/nzcharts/Histograms.aspx?r=NZ2YRSWAP