Service Improvement in the NHS – Making it Happen

NHS organisations operate in complex and challenging environments and are continually encouraged to seek better ways of doing things. Being able to confidently engage in service improvement can help achieve sustainable, effective systems which improve the efficiency and quality of services, increase impact and improve patient outcomes.

Service improvement doesn´t happen by itself – it needs to be made to happen and this requires an informed approach to understanding and evaluating systems and practices, defining need and bringing about sustained change that will deliver real benefits.

We offer a range of programmes that are designed to help practitioners and organisations to meet the challenge of improving the quality of services and care within the NHS. Our programmes focus on attaining the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to develop service improvement capability and bring about sustained improvement.

Our programmes

Service Performance Improvement Methodology for Health Managers

This programme is designed for Health Service professionals and managers who are involved in or responsible for changing organisational processes or procedures. It is particularly suitable for practitioners who are undertaking organisational change in challenging contexts, e.g. in complex, ambiguous situations, or ones which require consideration of multiple stakeholder interests. The programme is designed to help delegates to analyse problematic areas, to model and design new processes, to define effective performance criteria, and to make suitable interventions to bring about service performance improvements and related change.

Further details available at:

Service Performance Improvement Methodology for Health Managers

This programme is delivered in association with the University of Sheffield Management School. The Programme Leader is Dr John Paul Kawalek.

Further details about Programme Leader Dr John Paul Kawalek are available below:

Programme Leader, Dr John Paul Kawalek

Leading for Service Improvement

This programme is designed for Health Service professionals and managers to gain an appreciation of the difficulties associated with initiating change together with an understanding of how existing leadership and change theory can be used to promote change effectively. Further details available at

Leading for Service Improvement

Masters in Advancing Practice

This programme is designed for Health Service professionals who are advancing and developing services in health and social care organisations. Focussing on an exploration of the context of advancing practice, evidence based practice, clinical leadership and strategies for evaluation of service provision and improvement in the quality of service effectiveness, the course offers a comprehensive underpinning of the knowledge and skills required for advancing service development. Further details available at:

Masters in Advancing Practice