Abstract
Lean thinking has evolved from the Toyota Production System, but it is increasingly being applied to healthcare services. Lean focuses on continuous removal of wastes from the clinical processes whilst creating value from patient’s perspective. The current study is an initiative to implement Lean in the operation theatre department in a tertiary care Indian hospital. Of late the department was incurring performance decline and wanted to improve the patient’s experience by providing more efficient quality care and reduce the communication gaps in the department. Analysis of the “As-Is” scenario revealed many operational lapses like high case changeover time and non-adherence to case scheduling. Lean program created more effective working procedures and ensured a total continuity of care for the benefit of both staffs and patients. Operation theatres, where Lean was applied, showed a significant ameliorated performance along with an increase in the satisfaction level of patient’s in terms of service provided and improved staffs engagement and complacency.
