Lean in a community learning disability service

Abstract

This article describes an evaluation of staff members’ perspectives regarding the implementation of a pilot Lean initiative in a community learning disability service within the West Midlands. The evaluation aimed to develop an understanding of staff experiences of Lean implementation including staff perceptions of the benefits and challenges of implementation and their recommendations for improvements to Lean within the service. The methodology employed was a survey design in which a questionnaire was administered to 28 staff members directly involved in the implementation of Lean initiatives. The questionnaire incorporated closed questions which enabled analysis pertaining to frequencies and comparisons between participant responses and open questions which enabled identification of emergent themes in the data. The findings indicated staff members have mixed opinions towards Lean implementation; benefits of implementation were improved team working, tracking of referrals and service planning. The challenges to implementation were a lack of understanding of Lean; duplication of processes; implementation of a standardised referral process; and constraints of meetings and recording information. The results are discussed in relation to the facilitating factors and obstacles faced during implementation.