Improving organisational culture through quality improvement, values-based leadership and staff engagement: An NHS trust case study

Abstract

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is a provider of acute general hospital services and specialist elective orthopaedic services in the north of England. This paper aims to share the approach taken at WWL to improve organisational culture change through a focus on quality improvement and staff engagement. This paper explains how this focus has delivered measurable results, not just in quality and staff morale but also in performance, finance and benefits for both patients and staff. Improvements in many performance measures are very visible, particularly delivery of national targets and major reductions in a number of patient harms. Staff engagement figures from internal quarterly surveys and the national NHS Staff Survey report some of the highest levels of staff engagement in the UK. The Trust leadership recognises the excellent progress achieved but are not complacent as this is very much part of an ongoing journey.