It is crucial that your team develops an aim for workflow optimisation and decides what is to be achieved and when. This will help your team use the knowledge of your local system gained from process mapping to develop specific time-bound aims that will galvanise action within your practice and monitor progress.

Once you have developed an aim this will help with developing ideas or a theory of how to achieve this and what can be tested.

A driver diagram is a tool which visually presents a team's theory of how a goal will be achieved.

Creating a driver diagram with your team identifies your aim, what steps you require to ensure you achieve your aim, and helps the whole team to contribute to ideas for change to achieve the desired outcome.

For more information and guidance on driver diagrams click here.

The driver diagram developed by the PASC phase 1 teams may help you think about which change ideas to test.

Downloadable Resource: PASC Workflow Optimisation Driver Diagram

Downloadable Resource: Local PASC Team Driver Diagram

Rapid small tests of change are the best way to identify what is working or not working in order to refine and retest. Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles are a helpful tool to facilitate this process.

For more information and guidance on PDSA cycles click here.

Here are some examples of PDSA cycles undertaken by PASC phase 1 teams.

Downloadable Resource: PASC PDSA Cycle Example 1

Downloadable Resource: PASC PDSA Cycle Example 2

Downloadable Resource: PASC PDSA Blank Template

Now that you have had an opportunity to test ideas and bring them together you should have a protocol and/or policy to test.

Here are some examples of PASC phase 1 teams’ protocols for workflow optimisation, that you may wish to use and develop for your own team:

Downloadable Resource: Correspondence Management Policy (example)

Downloadable Resource: Document Management Checklist Example

Downloadable Resource: Correspondence Protocol Example

When testing your protocol and/or policy, make sure that you:

• collect data about the amount of documentation going to the GP pre and post testing and implementation of the protocol and/or policy.
• build in checks for safety – is the protocol and/or policy safely doing what it is supposed to do?
• ask how your staff are feeling about the change. Gather staff opinion pre and post changes to work practice.

You may wish to revisit the staff satisfaction surveys in the previous section at this point to help gather your staff opinion.