Strategic Direction

The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region’s Strategic Framework

Prior to the 2013/14 fiscal year, the provincial leadership team representing health regions, the Ministry of Health, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, 3sHealth, Health Quality Council, eHealth Saskatchewan and physicians, engaged in the yearly strategic planning process called Hoshin Planning. Through this process, the 2012-2017 Saskatchewan health system plan was finalized. The plan set out a vision for the future by outlining midterm outcomes and improvement targets that all health regions work together to accomplish.

The provincial leadership team also identified three short term strategic initiatives called Hoshins. These are priority areas for the 2013/14 year that will require considerable focus by health regions across the province.

Following the provincial leadership team meeting, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) leaders met to review the health system plan. Along with the three provincial strategic priorities (Hoshins), RQHR identified a fourth Hoshin, Access and Patient Flow as an immediate priority for the Region. A specific plan was then developed to direct how the 2013/14 priority areas would be accomplished within RQHR; six RQHR breakthrough projects were identified to begin in the 2013/14 fiscal year.

RQHR also identified foundational work that will need to begin to ensure the Region is on track to meet the provincial health system 2017 outcomes. Over the next several months a more comprehensive RQHR strategic plan will be developed that will outline this important work.

Changes to the RQHR Strategic Direction Language

A fundamental principle to planning at a provincial level is the commitment to “think and act as one system”. RQHR agreed that going forward the Region will adopt the provincial health system graphic (fig. 1) and language of Better Health, Better Care, Better Value and Better Teams; this will replace the “RQHR wheel”, and the current language of Client Experience, Healthy Business, Contributing to Healthy Communities and Healthy Workplace.

This change aligns the Region with its provincial colleagues and demonstrates the Region’s commitment to an integrated health system plan.

Figure 1 Provincial Health System Graphic

RQHR Strategic Framework Poster

Provincial and RQHR Linking Matrix 2013/14

Next Steps

Beyond the breakthrough projects, there is other critically important work happening in the health system on a daily basis. The Region recognizes that there will always be work that falls outside of the system’s strategic priorities. This work is no less valuable to improving the health care experience of RQHR patients and clients and the health of our population.

RQHR is committed to using Lean methodology to improve processes and eliminate waste to achieve sustained, system-wide change. This is not a fad; this is the future of the Saskatchewan healthcare system. Health care providers, physicians, leaders and staff are participating in training and focusing on improving the system.

Lean methodology teaches the Region that it can be more effective in its daily management of operational issues and concerns are visible, staff are aware of them, and teams discuss them on a regular basis to problem solve and plan to address them. Visibility walls make issues and initiatives transparent and known to all members of a team. Daily and weekly team huddles provide a discipline that enables teams to proactively manage issues. Over the course of the next several weeks, departments and units across the region will be engaged in developing visibility walls and the practice of routine staff huddles as a means of building our capacity for daily management.

Everyone in the Region, no matter what their role, has an important part to play in strengthening Saskatchewan’s health care system.

RQHR Lean

To learn more about the Region’s Lean work and follow the Region’s progress click here.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Health Strategic Priorities for the Healthcare System

To read about the Ministry of Health’s strategic priorities click here.

This is an 20 page electronic version of the Living Our Values booklet, designed to inform, guide and support RQHR Employees and Physicians.

The “Strength of Our People” series features stories of compassion and care by Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region staff.