UK health visiting: challenges faced during lean implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the challenges identified during a lean implementation in a health visiting service within a large primary care trust in NHS UK.Design/methodology/approach – Following a series of lean workshops a triangulated approach to data collection was adopted in order to determine the root cause of the challenges that were faced during this lean implementation. The three methods that were selected for qualitative analysis included semi‐structured interviews, document analysis and researcher participant observation.Findings – Six key challenges were identified from the data analysis. These were: high process variability; a lack of understanding of lean; poor communication and leadership; target focused; problems defining waste; and difficulty in determining who is the customer and what do they value?Practical implications – Although this particular lean implantation had limited success, the research has highlighted a number of challenges which would have to be addres...