Building sustainability into quality improvement (‘SusQI’): intended benefits
| QI element | Sustainability content | Intended benefits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Setting goals | Sustainability as a domain of quality; relationship to other domains | New motivation to contribute to QI, energy for change |
| 2 Studying the system | Understanding environmental and social resource use / impacts; carbon hotspots in the NHS; ‘seven capitals’ matrix | Highlights wastes and opportunities which are often overlooked; stimulates radical thinking |
| 3 Designing the improvement effort | The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare principles of sustainable clinical practice (prevention, patient empowerment and self-care, lean systems, low carbon alternatives)a – drivers and process changes | Directs towards highest value improvements, future proofing |
| 4 Measuring impact / return on investment | Triple bottom line / sustainable value equation; measuring carbon | Drives sustainable change; allows benefits to be communicated to broader audience, not exclusively regarding financial cost-benefit |
↵aFrom Mortimer et al, 2010.12 QI = quality improvement