Chapter 6 - Service Improvement (and employability)

The intention of this chapter has been to help you recognise the importance and value of service improvement experience. I have argued that the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that you develop when doing this type of work will be in high demand amongst modern healthcare employers, with service improvement experience potentially demonstrating all of the following things: • A caring and compassionate attitude towards others by trying to make services the best they can be for everyone involved. • Logical and objective thinking to analyse the current service. • Creativity and innovative thinking when making improvement suggestions. • Collaborative team work to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. • A quality-driven approach to work consistent with the principles of clinical governance. • A problem-solving approach to finding the best possible solution available. • Change management skills through the development of strategies to overcome barriers and make improvements sustainable. • A positive can-do attitude to doing things differently. • Leadership skills in motivating and driving your team through change. By systematically reflecting on your own personal experiences of service improvement and mapping them against tools such as the KSF and the ESM, you will be able to use evidence that you have at your disposal to articulate how you have developed some or all of these skills. This will help you to demonstrate how you are developing into a highly effective practitioner who is well positioned to impress in an interview situation.