4.2.2 Understanding Customer requirements
An important element of Lean is to improve service from
the user or customer’s perspective. Staff across the
Trusts were asked about how the customer’s
requirements were considered during the Lean activity,
to assess whether there had been a customer focus to
the improvements that had taken place. The term
“customer” often had to be clarified during the
interviews with staff.
Within Pottery there was very little understanding of the
patient requirements. It was acknowledged that patients
and relatives had a voice and could provide feedback
via workshops for example. However, it was also
highlighted that having the right facilities would help
with patient flow, thereby implying that this would meet
their requirements. However this issue ignored whether
gaining new facilities has been explicitly stated by
patients.
In Iron there was a lot of discussion around the topic of
customer requirements with a variety of answers. With
regard to who the customer was, it was highlighted that
customers included mainly patients, and Primary Care
Trusts, practice based commissioners, local and central
political organisations and other departments in the
Trust. “Commissioners are the customers who we meet
with on regular basis. The patient is the consumer –
who we meet through patient and public forum
involvement which does help to understand their
requirements.”
In terms of understanding the requirements of the
customers within Iron some points noted included; a
need to seek patients view of patient experience and
use patients to evaluate their experiences,
commissioners often had difference requirements and
these expectations could conflict with what the hospitals
could and wanted to deliver, some departments
highlighted that they had consultant internal customers
about their processes, in order to inform their process
mapping activities and, there was some uncertainty
about the degree of customer focus at the RIE events