It is sometimes said that making process improvements in a hospital is like fixing an aeroplane while it is flying, it is not ideal but is often the reality. You might be keen to try the ideas of lean thinking in your department but be put off by the big step in the dark that it might seem like, or simply find it difficult to explain the ideas to colleagues or get them to engage meaningfully. SimLean resolves this dilema by allowing you to experiment with process changes without disrupting the current workplace or affecting patient safety, and it does this in a very visual and engaging way. In our experience SimLean has sometimes been a critical step in moving an improvement project forwards.

SimLean combines simulation and Lean by providing the following:

• A set of simple computer-based simulations of some common hospital processes,
• A set of presentation slides that help explain some key lean improvement principles in the context of the simulation models,
• A framework for integrating these materials in a typical hospital improvement process.

If you would like to know more then please use the links on the left hand side to discover more about SimLean and how you can use it. The materials are free to download and use and include a handbook that you can either save and print, or read online.

The SimLean team wish you well in your process improvements, no matter which route you take, but hope that these materials will give you another lever to work with in making healthcare more effective for all.

NEWS: The website now has a number of video presentations for you to look at from David Ben-Tovim of Flinders Medical Centre in Australia and from members of the SLIM project team that developed SimLean.