Redesigning Occupational Therapy Service Provision to Increase Efficiency,Effectiveness and Stakeholder Satisfaction

The Newham Children's Services Occupational Therapy Department faced a number of major challenges, including an insufficient capacity to meet the growing demand for services, insufficient funding, an inability to fill posts consistently and an extremely long waiting list. It used business process redesign (BPR) techniques to address these problems. The redesign process involved a systematic and thorough approach to problem solving and the implementation of the solutions. Within 3 years, the team had decreased significantly both the rate of formal complaints and the length of the waiting list. It had also increased staff retention and morale. The team's success demonstrates that BPR can be a useful tool in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of occupational therapy services and stakeholder satisfaction.