Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

Mass production methods for mass vaccination: Improving flow and operational performance in a COVID-19 mass vaccination centre using Lean

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Iain Smith

Downloads


Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).


Abstract

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. The COVID-19 pandemic has infected tens of millions of people worldwide causing many deaths. Healthcare systems have been stretched caring for the most seriously ill and lockdown measures to interrupt COVID-19 transmission have had adverse economic and societal impacts. Large-scale population vaccination is seen as the solution. In the UK, a network of sites to deploy vaccines comprised National Health Service hospitals, primary care and new mass vaccination centres. Due to the pace at which mass vaccination centres were established and the scale of vaccine deployment, some sites experienced problems with queues and waiting times. To address this, one site used the Lean systematic improvement approach to make rapid operational improvements to reduce process times and improve flow. The case example identifies obstacles to flow experienced by a mass vaccination centre and how they were addressed using Lean concepts and techniques. Process cycle times were used as a proxy metric for efficiency and flow. Based on daily demand volume and open hours, takt time was calculated to give a process completion rate to achieve flow through the vaccination centre. The mass vaccination centre achieved its aim of reducing process times and improving flow. Administrative and clinical cycle times were reduced sufficiently to increase throughput and the number of queues and queueing time were reduced improving client experience. The design and operational management of vaccination centre processes contribute to client experience, efficiency and throughput. Lean provides a systematic approach that can improve operational processes and facilitate client flow through mass vaccination centres.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Smith IM, Smith DTL

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: BMJ Open Quality

Year: 2021

Volume: 10

Issue: 3

Online publication date: 12/09/2021

Acceptance date: 27/08/2021

Date deposited: 02/10/2021

ISSN (electronic): 2399-6641

Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group

URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001525

DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001525


Altmetrics

Altmetrics provided by Altmetric


Share