Using Digital to drive quality in the NHS Supply Chain

Digital and quality - in some ways they go hand in hand as digital technologies can automate some manual tasks and can help eliminate human errors.

In the UL NHS Supply Chain contract, one colleague took the idea of digital further, creating an app that improved performance, increased recognition and dug into the root cause to eradicate quality issues.

We spoke to Bozena Pyzik, Operations Manager at UL NHS Rugby, creator of the app, on how it came about and the challenges that it's solving…

“At Rugby, we had very manual processes for our quality checks. These quality checks are part of our Service Level Agreement and our customer requires that we check 3% of demand lines per day. We looked for ideas on how to speed it up - previously we filled in everything on paper, then repeated the same thing inputting the data into the computer. There was an idea for an app. We presented it to the compliance team and quality team and they loved it.”

The app took away the need for the manual repetition and even sent immediate alerts when something wasn’t quite right:

“When we have an error, there is an automatic email which goes to the managers, who then can go and conduct a quality conversation with the colleague. The conversation is then logged and it's saved in our file for the purpose of compliance audits.”

But Bozena and the team made sure that it wasn’t just basics in place, it now includes recognition and clear actions and reminders too:

“ I keep developing the app all the time. We created the basic things, then we decided to add more. So for instance now, the app shows who is our quality star of the week - the person who had the most lines checked with no errors.

"It’s also improved the quality of checks, making sure that every manager actually does have that conversation with the colleague when needed, and it's not getting forgotten.”

Bringing in other teams within the operations into the drive for quality and accountability is also an important element to the app:

“We felt that the focus was always on the Pickers having to check quality - but what about the other teams? So, we changed it so, when errors are discovered in the other departments, there is space in the app to record this."

Talking about her background that helped her to create the app, Bozena shared: “I graduated from University in Poland in Science and Technology. I have an interest in tools like app sheet or Google Data Studio - I teach myself and learn as I go! “

And by sharing this as best practice, Bozena found her app being adopted in other sites too:

“We had another site which tested with us, and they were successful as well. So then we expanded further, and the team asked if we could roll it out to the network and it’s developing all the time.”

“Veronica Santos and the Rugby Team have had a big impact on the success of this Application and is helping to promote and roll it out to the NHS Network.”

If you have an idea for how digital solutions can make an impact on how you work, contact your local digital champion.

For more information on the app, contact Bozena Pyzik.