There is a condition called SFQPosis which is an infection that is transmitted by a vector called an ISP.
The primary symptom of SFQPosis is sudden clarity of vision and a new understanding of how safety, flow, quality and productivity improvements can happen at the same time …
… when they are seen as partners on the same journey.
There are two sorts of ISP … Solitary and Social.
Solitary ISPs infect one person at a time … often without them knowing. And there is often a long lag time between the infection and the appearance of symptoms. Sometimes years – and often triggered by an apparently unconnected event.
In contrast the Social ISPs will tend to congregate together and spend their time foraging for improvement pollen and nectar and bringing it back to their ‘hive’ to convert into delicious ‘improvement honey’ which once tasted is never forgotten.
It appears that Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, has recently been bitten by an ISP and is now exhibiting the classic symptoms of SFQPosis.
Here is the video of Jeremy describing his symptoms at the recent NHS Confederation Conference. The talk starts at about 4 minutes.
His account suggests that he was bitten while visiting the Virginia Mason Hospital in the USA and on return home then discovered some Improvement hives in the UK … and some of the Solitary ISPs that live in England.
Warwick and Sheffield NHS Trusts are buzzing with ISPs … and the original ISP that infected them was one Kate Silvester.
The repeated message in Jeremy’s speech is that improved safety, quality and productivity can happen at the same time and are within our gift to change – and the essence of achieving that is to focus on flow.
The sequence is safety first (eliminate the causes of avoidable harm), then flow second (eliminate the causes of avoidable chaos), then quality (measure both expectation and experience) and then productivity will soar.
And everyone will benefit.
This is not a zero-sum win-lose game.
So listen for the buzz of the ISPs …. follow it and ask them to show you how … ask them to innoculate you with SFQPosis.
And here is a recent video of Dr Steve Allder, a consultant neurologist and another ISP that Kate infected with SFQPosis a few years ago. Steve is describing his own experience of learning how to do Improvement-by-Design.