Systems engineering in healthcare - a personal UK perspective

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Systems Engineering
• Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS)
• Quality Improvement Methodologies

Background:

• Increasing healthcare complexity and demand negatively impact safety, delivery, quality, and affordability.
• Systems Engineering (SE) is a proven discipline in sectors like aerospace and communications.
• Healthcare is recognized as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS).

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the application and potential of Healthcare Systems Engineering (HCSE) within the NHS.
• To identify barriers to wider adoption of HCSE.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of embedding HCSE capability in healthcare settings.

Main Methods:

• Combined 'hard' and 'soft' systems engineering techniques.
• Piloted HCSE in primary, community, and secondary care improvement projects.
• Focused on developing embedded NHS capability in HCSE.

Main Results:

• Successfully piloted HCSE techniques in various healthcare settings.
• Demonstrated the potential for HCSE to address healthcare performance issues.
• Identified awareness, belief, and capability gaps as primary barriers to adoption.

Conclusions:

• HCSE offers a viable approach to enhance healthcare performance.
• The identified capability chasm in HCSE can be overcome with growing practitioner evidence.
• Wider adoption of HCSE is crucial for improving healthcare safety, quality, and affordability.