Demand, Capacity and Flow QI Collaborative: Wave 1

The NCCMH ran the first round of the Demand, Capacity and Flow (DCF) QI Collaborative ran from January 2023 to July 2024, and supported Mental Health Services across the UK to improve the Demand, Capacity and Flow of their services.

The broad aim of the collaborative were to:

  • support teams within mental health services to understand demand, develop and test change ideas to improve flow, reduce waiting lists and manage demand in creative ways
  • provide opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing and learning at quarterly in-person events.

NCCMH QI Coaches supported community and inpatient teams to understand the demand for their services, develop and test their change ideas to improve flow, reduce waiting lists and manage demand in creative ways. Teams in cohort one saw improvements in the form of a reduced wait time for those waiting for assessments, first appointments and specialist support. It also provided teams with the opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing and learning through regular in-person events.

Teams were also able to reduce the number of missed appointments, offer support to people on long wait lists and make services feel more accessible. The collaborative also provided participating teams the opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing and learning through regular in-person events.  

The first six months of the programme involved our Quality Improvement (QI) coaches helping teams to process map their service, and identify blockages and where they wanted to focus their work and improve demand, capacity and flow. Our QI coaches then supported teams to develop a bespoke QI project to help them achieve the aim they had identified through their process mapping. Teams then spent the remainder of the collaborative testing ideas and regularly reviewing their data to see if the changes were having a positive impact.

All the teams on the collaborative came together every quarter over the course of the collaborative for in-person learning sessions designed to share ideas and take inspiration from each other.

If you have any questions about the collaborative, contact the team at DCFQI@rcpsych.ac.uk.