Conclusion

In this course, Understanding service improvement in healthcare, you have explored a familiar term (service), and discovered that it is not as simple as it initially might seem. You have started to examine how that term relates to the concept of improvement, at least, in your own experience.

With regard to your own healthcare setting, you should have arrived at a number of judgements. You will have determined just how clearly defined the service is, what you and others think constitutes an improvement, and what it takes to sustain the improvement. The service might seem a good deal more complex than you thought, it may have progressed less than you hoped, but you will have begun a reflective appraisal that can help you, and hopefully others, in the future. You have taken a snapshot picture of the service today. Remember though, you wielded the camera and chose what to note in your reflections. If you use your insights to plan to advance the service in some way now, remember that consultation with others is important. Your reflections here are a starting point.