The BQS Institute selects the "Flexpool" based on the Dutch model as the best change project at the 13th Health Industry Congress in Hamburg

The key to better patient care lies in the qualifications and motivation of hospital employees. But what is to be done when skilled workers in nursing, for example, are becoming increasingly difficult to find and the framework conditions, from employment contracts to duty roster arrangements, are not adapted to the current life phases of employees? Dissatisfaction, absenteeism and rationing of highly complex care measures are the result. Quality declines and managers are more concerned with managing the grievance than with further developing the hospital enterprise. It's a vicious cycle that every affected hospital wants to break. But only a few find a quick way out of this misery.

To solve this problem, Lukaskrankenhaus in Neuss decided on an approach that is more commonly used by our Dutch neighbors; the "flexpool". A variable employee pool that regulates the management of under- and overcapacity on the wards. Management, the works council and the employees themselves jointly designed the approach, thereby changing the corporate culture in the long term. A working time model that gives employees with families more stability in their personal scheduling. Whether for daycare opening hours or vacation planning during vacation periods. And it has also opened up a path back into care for returning employees after parental leave.

The jury, consisting of representatives of the German Federal Ministry of Health, the German Hospital Association, the Patient Safety Action Alliance, and the management consultancy Oberender & Partner by Dr. med. Jochen Baierlein, Dr. Martina Oldhafer from UKSH (head of change management and jury head), Prof. Dr. med. Alena Buyx from the Institute for Experimental Medicine at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, and the psychologist Eva Lampmann from the BQS Institute decided in favor of the change project at Lukaskrankenhaus from among a large number of submissions from patient communication, medical care concepts, as well as personnel management approaches.

"A great topic. A very courageous change and a lighthouse project at the same time, which finds its way into the guiding principles of the hospital company. In addition, appreciative, taking into account all employees involved in the process, from management down to nursing," said Felix Dorn, Head of Marketing and Sales at the BQS Institute and responsible for the German CHANGE Award. "The jury had a really difficult task to solve. All submissions were exemplary and carried a clear patient benefit. In the end, however, a topic made the running that probably represents one of the biggest current problems in care; the shortage of specialists. A core problem that we identify again and again in the results of the Picker surveys for our customers. With the German CHANGE Award in particular, we want to show that the challenge is greater. Comprehensive change processes must be strived for in order to meet the challenges in patient-centered care."

The German CHANGE Award is now presented annually by the BQS Institute and is intended to motivate the implementation of ambitious change projects in German hospitals. And in the future, a high-ranking jury made up of politicians, scientists, stakeholders and operational implementation experts will continue to decide on the best application.

Winner of the German CHANGE Award 2017

Städitsche Kliniken, Lukaskrankenhaus Neuss GmbH

Andrea Albrecht, Nursing Director, Lukaskrankenhaus Neuss, Preussenstr. 84, 41464 Neuss, lbrchtlksnssd, 02131-888-6001

Sebastian Ebertz, Nursing Director, Lukaskrankenhaus Neuss, Preussenstr. 84, 41464 Neuss, sbrtzlksnssd, 02131-888-6001