Implementing lean methods in the Emergency Department: The role of professions and professional status
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of lean methods in an Emergency Department (ED) and the role of the professions in this process.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with ED staff in a UK NHS hospital.
Findings
Lean was met with more engagement and enthusiasm by the professionals than is usually reported in the literature. The main reasons for this were a combination of a national policy, the unique clinical environment and the status of the professional project for doctors in emergency medicine.
Research limitations/implications
Single site, one-off study.
Practical implications
The status and development of professionals involved may play a big part in the acceptability of initiatives like lean methods in health care. The longer term sustainability of the organisational changes introduced remains open to question.
Originality/value
This paper analyses the success of lean methods in health care with reference to the professional status and stage of development of the professions involved, using the sociology of professions. This approach has not been used elsewhere.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Justin Waring, Fiona Moffatt and Odessa Petit dit Dariel.
Citation
Timmons, S., Coffey, F. and Vezyridis, P. (2014), "Implementing lean methods in the Emergency Department: The role of professions and professional status", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 214-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-10-2012-0203
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited