Leadership, a key element of quality improvement in healthcare. Results from a literature review of “Lean Healthcare” and the Productive Ward

Purpose – This paper reviews the Lean Healthcare and Productive Ward: releasing time to care (RTC) literature and extracts the reported effects and impacts experienced by employees who implement it. The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the strength of the connection between the two models and explores the implications for leadership and implementation. Design/methodology/approach – This study reviewed the Lean Healthcare and Productive Ward: RTC literature using strict systematic inclusion criteria. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify key characteristics of reported employee experience, effect or impact. Themes and categories were ranked by the number of citations and presented. Findings – This study outlines the similar employee effects and impacts that exist between Lean-type improvement initiatives and the Productive Ward: RTC programme. It discusses the three top themes of: Empowerment, Leadership and Engagement and explores the opportunities for leadership. It also...