An ex-employee of the British National Health Service (NHS) has spoken out about how external management consultancies are ripping off a cash strapped health service and offer little in return.
United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland (Press Release) November 6, 2007 --
An outspoken ex-NHS employee is sounding off about how many management consultancy practices are taking the NHS for all its worth and offering very little in return.
Andrew Scotchmer, who spent seven years as an NHS employee, has recently founded Complete Kaizen after the publication of his book 5S Kaizen in 90 Minutes and he is warning NHS trusts not to believe all they hear and to be careful before going into a contract with an external consultant.
According to Andrew, “At the moment there is a huge interest within the NHS to adopt what is called kaizen, a Japanese approach to continuous improvement that was made famous by Toyota, and with good reason. Studies have shown that kaizen, or lean as it is also called, can help NHS hospitals become world-class but unfortunately what they end up with is a never ending dependency on excessively expensive consultancy services.”
The reason he suggests is that consultancies are not imparting the necessary knowledge that will allow hospitals to implement this approach themselves. “Hence what you end up with is a constant need for, or dependence on, very expensive teams of external consultants... A need which is taking away financial resources from those aspects most in need – the patients and the quality of their healthcare.”
Complete Kaizen promotes itself as a consultancy with a difference, a reluctant consultant almost. Complete Kaizen does the exact opposite to most consultancies by actually trying to shorten the time it spends with clients and by actively teaching them everything they need to continue by themselves – without any extra outside assistance. “This allows us to lessen the amount of time we need to spend with a client and thus saves them money which can be reinvested elsewhere. That's how we add value.”
Andrew, who has received much interest in his theories and whose writings on the subject have been published worldwide, earning him the accolade of “renowned lean expert” and “kaizen guru,” tells from experience of how some consultants brought in for short-term contracts can still be found hanging around a year or two later. “They're just bleeding hospitals dry, seeing them as a blank cheque or something instead of giving hospitals what they really need – knowledge – and leaving them alone.”
Complete Kaizen hopes to readdress the balance and give hospitals the necessary techniques and tools they desperately and deservedly need to continually improve the level of healthcare they provide. Kaizen has shown to increase quality, efficiency and productivity, whilst lowering costs, lifting moral and making the hospital environment a much cleaner and safer place to be.
“Its just a shame the consultants don't teach that” exclaimed Mr. Scotchmer.
Andrew Scotchmer, who spent seven years as an NHS employee, has recently founded Complete Kaizen after the publication of his book 5S Kaizen in 90 Minutes and he is warning NHS trusts not to believe all they hear and to be careful before going into a contract with an external consultant.
According to Andrew, “At the moment there is a huge interest within the NHS to adopt what is called kaizen, a Japanese approach to continuous improvement that was made famous by Toyota, and with good reason. Studies have shown that kaizen, or lean as it is also called, can help NHS hospitals become world-class but unfortunately what they end up with is a never ending dependency on excessively expensive consultancy services.”
The reason he suggests is that consultancies are not imparting the necessary knowledge that will allow hospitals to implement this approach themselves. “Hence what you end up with is a constant need for, or dependence on, very expensive teams of external consultants... A need which is taking away financial resources from those aspects most in need – the patients and the quality of their healthcare.”
Complete Kaizen promotes itself as a consultancy with a difference, a reluctant consultant almost. Complete Kaizen does the exact opposite to most consultancies by actually trying to shorten the time it spends with clients and by actively teaching them everything they need to continue by themselves – without any extra outside assistance. “This allows us to lessen the amount of time we need to spend with a client and thus saves them money which can be reinvested elsewhere. That's how we add value.”
Andrew, who has received much interest in his theories and whose writings on the subject have been published worldwide, earning him the accolade of “renowned lean expert” and “kaizen guru,” tells from experience of how some consultants brought in for short-term contracts can still be found hanging around a year or two later. “They're just bleeding hospitals dry, seeing them as a blank cheque or something instead of giving hospitals what they really need – knowledge – and leaving them alone.”
Complete Kaizen hopes to readdress the balance and give hospitals the necessary techniques and tools they desperately and deservedly need to continually improve the level of healthcare they provide. Kaizen has shown to increase quality, efficiency and productivity, whilst lowering costs, lifting moral and making the hospital environment a much cleaner and safer place to be.
“Its just a shame the consultants don't teach that” exclaimed Mr. Scotchmer.
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