Listening into Action™ (LiA) is a comprehensive, outcome-oriented approach to engage all the right people behind quality outcomes.

It is clear that no amount of inward investment, restructuring or reconfiguration can, in itself, deliver the step change in quality and safety of patient care or the associated improvement in working conditions, environment and culture that staff crave, unless we fundamentally change the way we do change.

LiA is a systematic approach to engage and empower clinicians and staff around any challenge. It is about mobilising and leveraging the full potential of the workforce to improve outcomes for patients, for staff, and for your Trust.

The LiA Optimal Framework™ - a core part of the approach – provides a comprehensive and joined-up way to tackle improvements in specific service areas, delivered through the direct engagement of the people who work there. It brings together a holistic view of the most likely opportunities for improvement – based on best practice, input from more than 30,000 NHS staff, and focused development work in pioneering Trusts. This is combined with the '7 Simple Steps' for engaging all the right people who, between them, have the ability, influence and know-how to make it happen. This is a unique and powerful approach, developed 'by the NHS, for the NHS'.

The LiA Optimal Framework focuses on three dimensions of change: 1) quality and safety, 2) the patient experience, and 3) working together. This is a compelling combination that incorporates all aspects of how a ward, department or service works. Teams are coached through a ‘journey’, which begins with a clear view of how they are performing today, and takes them through a step-by step process to engage all the right people, identify the biggest opportunities for improvement, and deliver measurable outcomes for the benefit of patients, staff and the Trust. Feedback from staff about the framework is fantastic because it is simple, easy to use, and provides everything they need to drive change for themselves. It puts them back in the driving seat while also giving Trust leadership a ‘methodology’ for enabling change. It also leverages use of other improvement initiatives such as LEAN and the Productive Series by contextualising and sharpening the way in which they are used and applied.