Building NHS England’s capacity for patient-centred elective care improvement

NHS England commissioned Blue Lozenge to deliver an introductory workshop on patient journey mapping methodology to support the development of minimum standards for patients waiting for elective care.

With over 7 million people on elective care waiting lists and 42% dissatisfied with communication during waits, NHS England’s national team needed practical understanding of journey mapping techniques and pathways for translating patient feedback into actionable service standards that could be implemented across the NHS and health carer sector.

Approach

We designed and facilitated a comprehensive full-day intensive workshop bringing together NHS England team members, stakeholders and people with lived experience of care. We used our Navigation Pulse programme to inform the workshop, developing the group’s understanding of how to listen to patients and how to use feedback to drive improvements. This included patient understanding techniques, practical journey mapping, and action planning. We included people with personal experience sharing with participants, which brought authenticity to theoretical frameworks.

Impact

The workshop successfully equipped the NHS England team with practical patient journey mapping skills and established a strategic foundation for transformative elective care improvement. Participants identified six key action areas including discovery research, data integration, administrative standardisation, organisational culture change, strategic focus, and policy development. The session provided immediate implementation resources including patient journey mapping canvas, insight principles, and pathway analysis frameworks, while creating a shared vision for patient-centred healthcare transformation that improves experience while enhancing system efficiency.

“These inputs have been a breath of fresh air and there is lots I can take back to my trust. Understanding the patient personas and data gaps – that was really helpful.”

NHS England Workshop Participant