Our Way, Our People

Who said what?

"True quality is unlikely to be deduced from presence of something one can count; true quality is the absence of the unwanted (non value, waste and, in particular, system failure." Stefan Mieczkowski, Director of Operations Archipelago Health.
"Stop the restructurings. The only thing they generate is redundancy payments." Testimony from the suppressed report by Institute for Healthcare Improvements (IHI), Massachusetts.
"To be an effective consultant one must behave authentically" - Peter Block, Author Immaculate Consulting.
"We will not shy away from what is difficult to do or to say." - Stefan Mieczkowski, Director of Operations Archipelago Health.
"Most targets and standards appear to be defined in professional, organisational and political terms, not in terms of patients\' experience of care." Testimony from the suppressed report by the Institute for Healthcare Improvements (IHI), Massachusetts.
"Subsidiarity – ensuring that decisions are taken at the right level of the system, which means as close to the patient as possible." - David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS, the operating framework for the NHS in England 2010/11.
"Clinical ownership and leadership – we must all continue to mobilise and empower clinicians across the system. Clinicians must be on board when decisions are taken." - David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS, the operating framework for the NHS in England 2010/11.
"System alignment – achieving complex cultural changes, such as making quality our organising principle, which requires all the different parts of the system to pull in the same direction and to work with partners." - David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS, the operating framework for the NHS in England 2010/11.
"Co-production – all parts of the system need to continue to work together on shaping and implementing change." - David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS, the operating framework for the NHS in England 2010/11.
"We field intelligent and adaptive people who will not shy away from what is difficult to do or to say; we take responsibility for outcomes binding our fortunes with yours; we act ethically and approach people filled with the desire to work with them so that they might fulfill their own potential." - Stefan Mieczkowski, Director of Operations Archipelago Healthcare.
"We have an action orientation and will not waste your time and money reporting, analysing and debating problems, and then leave you to do the rest, when what you really need and want is action." - Stefan Mieczkowski, Director of Operations Archipelago Health.
"The risk of consequences to managers is much greater for not meeting expectations from above than for not meeting expectations of patients and families." Testimony from the suppressed report by Institute for Healthcare Improvements (IHI), Massachusetts.

Our people work as close to the front line as possible – i.e. where the patient care actually takes place. (If this sounds obvious, then it should, and yet our clients tell us it’s surprisingly rare for a consultancy to get so involved at the ‘front line’….)

We make sure we understand our clients’ current operations as thoroughly as possible by seeing for ourselves. Overly curious staff could be an irritation for some employers. In Archipelago, it is our way of life.

We believe we are of little use to you if we need a large team to bring about the change you seek, we don’t come mob handed. Our approach is to engage the staff that are there and work with them to remove waste and create staff time to be re-invested in the next change.

We have learned over time how to set the conditions that catalyse change using frameworks adapted for use with transformational approaches. Our aim is to help you identify your priorities and also to communicate them clearly to your people, empowering them and rekindling a sense of ownership and initiative.

We coach your front-line people to develop their own solutions to front-line challenges.

It’s a hard road, but an honest one

We believe in a type of change that is radical in the sense that it unleashes the latent commitment and enthusiasm of your people, to serve their patients and other stakeholders.

We acknowledge the dilemma often faced by healthcare managers faced with the seemingly irreconcilable need to improve quality and at the same time save money. At times like these, plans that emphasise central solutions to complex frontline problems are understandably very attractive and if we thought they would work we would be the first to offer them.

Our competitors would say we have chosen a hard road, but we never saw that there was any choice to be made.

Archipelago Healthcare – Better Healthcare in Mind

Who said what?

Our Way, Our People

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