Wendy Gauntley, Manger of the Lean Healthcare Academy says, "No one can argue that the huge burden of debt resting on the country's shoulders has to be reduced and that lean times are ahead for us all. In these times of budget cuts and increased scrutiny on how and where money is spent, the healthcare sector will still be expected to provide world-class service with excellent levels of patient care - a daunting task.

However, there are methods and techniques that will allow the healthcare sector to meet this challenge. Amongst many of its uses, the application of "lean" principles to redesign pathways and change the way people work and think about working can have dramatic effects on a Trust. This is why we run the completely free-of-charge "Getting More for Less" Healthcare seminar series to share best practice and help organisations solve the problems your organisation is facing."

The events are aimed at NHS personnel who are tasked with service improvement and key financial responsibilities, including education leads, learning-and-development teams, and transformation-and-reform teams.

There have been several expert guest speakers, including Dr. Richard Pope, Director of Innovation and Research at Airedale NHS Trust, who gave a brilliantly received talk on the benefits of telehealth and how it can be implemented. Another was Ian Carruthers, Training and Education Manager at University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, who provided a thought-provoking lesson on the cost and time savings brought through the adoption of eLearning.


A third well-received presenter was Jacqueline Morton, Head of Reform at Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, who spoke about their very successful Releasing Time to Care project.

The free seminars are organised jointly by the Lean Healthcare Academy and its sister eLearning organisation, the Healthcare eAcademy, which delivers clinical and non-clinical online training programmes to the NHS. Both are operating divisions of online training pioneer Virtual College of West Yorkshire.