three moths ago I did a course on operational managment as part of my MPA (masters in public administration) the key theme was the use of lean management aplications as used in the private sector. The academics at Warwick and NHS practioners involved in the studies have been severly frustrated by the lack of take-up (where it has been used the results have been little short of astonishing) The main focus of lean managment in this context has been the increase in throughput and an increase in quality without increasing capacity (ie shorter queues better service and no additional resources required)
I was very pleased to see in Te Tmes on thursday that two major hospitals have decided to use lean management theory and I really look forward to the results. To The PA i dont know if this helps but stories like your mothers are all too common and I hope finaly that changes will be made. Cllr