The habits of an improver: thinking about learning for improvement in healthcare.

The Health Foundation is pleased to publish this contribution to current debate about how best to educate, train and develop the skills of health and care professionals to enable them to improve the quality of services. The past few years have seen increasing interest in improving quality as part of the professional role, which is a great step forward in itself. We are aware of the rise in formal and informal training opportunities that are now available, from modules in initial professional training, to Masters level degrees and short in-service courses. We want to ensure that our contribution best complements what is offered by universities, statutory training bodies and NHS organisations. While there are many courses that focus on particular approaches, competencies and skills, the unique contribution that Professor Bill Lucas brings to this arena is to suggest that we instead think about what attributes individuals need to foster if they are to be able to succeed with bringing about change and improvement in the quality of care and services. The current paper builds upon extensive work by Bill and others, in engineering and elsewhere, with the aim of ensuring that individuals are able to reflect upon, communicate and collaborate to shape further national and local activity. Continuous improvement is a key principle of the Foundation and is supported by the perspective outlined in this thought paper, namely, the importance of defining and consciously developing the habits that enable and facilitate improvement as a key professional skill. Such an understanding is crucial in the development and implementation of education and training to help individuals to become successful improvers in the complex world of health and social care. The key ideas in this paper will be taken forward with relevant partners to influence the future direction and approach to training in this important area. While recognising that individual aptitudes and habits of mind are critical, they need to be actively developed, supported and reinforced by the way in which improvement interventions are designed, planned, implemented and evaluated. Professor Nick Barber Director of Research, the Health Foundation