We were delighted share that we won an award at this year’s Operational Excellence Awards UK for a project developed through our Operational Excellence Programme!
What is the project?
Led by the leadership and culture team, matrons from outpatient services across the trust identified an issue that was affecting both operational performance and financial sustainability: the consistency and accuracy of outpatient procedure coding.
By reviewing a sample of more than 800 patient records across four outpatient specialities, the team discovered compliance rates ranging from just 45% to 82%. They also found significant variation in how services recorded activity.
Some teams were using paper, while others used electronic systems, and in many cases, procedures had not been coded, had been coded incorrectly, or were using outdated codes. From their initial review they identified around £13,000 of lost income within the areas examined alone.
The team worked collaboratively with colleagues from clinical coding, contract income, operational services to develop practical solutions. This included reviewing and updating coding processes, ensuring procedure codes accurately reflected current clinical practice, and creating easy-to-use guidance materials to support colleagues in clinics.
Fran Rademaker, Modern Matron, said:
“This award is a fantastic recognition for a group of colleagues who came together with a genuine desire to improve services for patients. What started as a conversation during the Operational Excellence Programme became a project that has delivered measurable benefits for the Trust.”
“The team identified a solution that improves governance, supports patient care and delivers financial benefits for the Trust. I’m incredibly proud of the team’s commitment, particularly their willingness to challenge existing processes, collaborate across departments and maintain momentum despite significant operational pressures. Their work demonstrates what is possible when we empower people closest to the service to lead improvement.
The team after receiving their award.
Initially led by the outpatient matrons and modern matron, the team expanded to draw on expertise from across the trust. They brought in Nicky Pilbro, Lead Dental Nurse, whose previous work on clinical coding as part of her apprenticeship had already demonstrated significant benefits within orthodontics, and Andy Griffiths, Senior Business Analyst, whose analytical expertise helped the group understand the scale of the issue and quantify its impact.
Reflecting on the achievement, the team highlighted that one of the greatest benefits of the programme was creating dedicated time and space to step away from day-to-day pressures, think creatively, and work collaboratively on a challenge they could influence. By bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise, they were able to identify a solution with the potential to deliver lasting improvements across the organisation.
This award recognises not only the impressive outcomes already achieved, but also the wider impact of empowering frontline colleagues to lead change. The learning from this project is now being shared across other specialities through training, with the potential to improve coding compliance and financial sustainability across the trust.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic achievement and for demonstrating how operational excellence can translate innovative ideas into meaningful improvements for patients, colleagues, and the trust as a whole.