Access QI is new programme of work focused on supporting NHS Boards to deploy quality improvement (QI) expertise to meet the challenge of delivering sustainable improvements in waiting times whilst maintaining or improving the quality of care.

The programme has four components:

• Building the capability within teams and across pathways of care to deploy QI to improve waiting times whilst maintaining or improving the quality of care
• Providing support to ensure infrastructures and culture enable application of QI expertise to priority areas of access improvement work
• Developing new and strengthening existing systems to share learning about what is and isn't working
• Working with the existing national programmes to ensure readily accessible information and guidance is available on High Impact Changes, Change packages and Measurement.

The design of the programme has been agreed by Scottish Government and a more detailed document can be accessed here. As part of the Access QI offering, once funding arrangements are finalised, we will be recruiting three NHS boards to become accelerator sites. These boards will be provided with more intensive external support to demonstrate impact and provide accelerated learning that can then be spread across Scotland.

Accelerator Sites will benefit from advice and practical support to:

• Address gaps in the key infrastructures needed to successfully deploy QI in the pursuit of waiting time improvements. This will include a small additional allocation for 12 months to enhance the QI infrastructures around Access QI work.
• Build additional QI capacity including support to train up current QI practitioners in the additional access skills around Theory of Constraints and Demand/Capacity/Activity/Queue (DCAQ) management
• Develop and test different approaches to addressing the dilemma that redesign requires clinical leadership from the speciality when those same clinical leaders need to be maximising their time spent on clinical work to address the waiting list.
• Support to further develop Access QI data sets which enable an understanding of where to focus improvement work and whether changes are leading to improvement. As part of this, ensure the Access QI data sets are inclusive of measures of patient experience, clinical outcomes and staff experience.
• Develop and implement Access QI visual management and huddle concepts.
• Develop practical implementation tools and guidance to use and support spread across the Board and Scotland
  Support and advice to address any key leadership and cultural issues which are limiting progress.

Information on applying to become an accelerator site will be sent directly to NHS board chief executives and the boards nominated Access QI lead. It will also be uploaded on this website. Please note that if it is not available here, it means we have not yet opened recruitment.