Health and care systems globally are under increasing pressure to deliver better care at lower cost, against a backdrop of ageing populations, funding pressures, operational inefficiencies, an overstretched workforce, ever-growing waitlists and growing staff attrition.

According to Gallup high engagement organisations increase profitability by 22% and data from the Department of Health (UK) demonstrates that being in the top 10% of engagement scores (across the NHS) means a drop of 0.21 percentage points in absenteeism rates – equivalent to £235,000 in salary costs for a trust of 3000 employees.

But how can we build continuous savings into the fabric of healthcare organisations without impacting staff experience and the quality of care? 

ImproveWell can help improve financial performance by, helping teams and organisations to create a culture of engagement and continuous improvement; lowering spending on agency staff; reduced costs (both in terms of staff hours saved and waste reduction); and avoidance of unnecessary expenses. The solution helps drive operational and cost efficiencies by drawing on continuous frontline insights and innovation to optimise use of scarce resources, reduce duplication and waste and increase throughput. It also enhances financial performance thanks to reduced absenteeism and turnover as well as minimised waste and cost avoidance. 

Some examples from the ImproveWell community of how ideas can generate cost savings is below.

The implementation of tamper-proof security tags that indicate if equipment has been checked and is ready to use. In one ward, a saving in staff time of 22 hours per week has been estimated. This equates to a saving of approximately £19,000 per year, as well as an improvement in patient safety. 

An idea to introduce “Amnesty Boxes” in changing rooms where staff can empty pockets of unused items make it easy for staff to return items and for the unused items to be collected and put back into circulation where possible. For one ward, items returned into circulation have made an estimated saving of around £4,000 per year.

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