This is an animation all about Quality Improvement, a topic we’ve made lots of animations about over the years. This is one of our favourites, however, and continues to be used weekly as part of staff training and induction.

Project background

Quality Improvement has been called many different names, from Continuous Quality Improvement to Process Improvement, and even Quality and Outcomes Frameworks.

At its heart is the idea that we can always do a little bit better today than we did yesterday, and if we can do that every day… well, then just imagine where we could be by the end of the year!

It’s also a quite democratic approach to organisational change, seeking to find solutions to problems that are inspired by the people closest to them, enabling continuous evolution in how well something works.

Within health and social care, it’s a movement that emerged a few years ago and was partly inspired by organisations like the Marginal Gains Team, which worked with the British Olympic cycling team, as well as learning from other organisations and the evolving safety protocols of sectors like aviation.

Working on Quality Improvement animations has also inspired us to always be looking for ways to improve our processes and make things better for our clients.

Post-launch feedback

When we contacted the Dudley Group for feedback on how the project had worked out for them and their thoughts on the process, they let us know that it continues to be very well received and is used weekly as part of staff induction and training.

Using regional accented voiceovers

They also talked about how much they liked being offered a range of voiceovers, with accents that matched their region. Identification is so important when it comes to getting people on board with what you have to tell them.

People need to be able to hear themselves and see themselves, so the fact that we could offer the Dudley Group a choice of regionally accented voiceovers made a big difference to both their new starters and their existing team.

Scriptwriting and imagery for the project

With inclusivity and personal identification in mind, what we loved most about working on this project was having a brave client who allowed us to take some risks, not only in how the script was developed and delivered but also in how the images were presented.

Even today, it’s still rare to see BAME hands in a whiteboard animation, and we are proud to have been one of the first animation companies in the world to make this step. The Dudley Group never questioned this choice and was 100% on board, even when other clients we had suggested it to had told us that they ‘felt that this might be a distraction from the subject of the film’. 

All of the positive feedback we have received proves once and for all that this isn’t the case.

We know that simply using a regional voice and diverse pair of hands won’t change the world on their own, but making little improvements like this, whenever we get the chance, is what quality improvement is all about.

Future plans

We are currently in discussions with the Dudley Group to create an updated version of this film, so watch this space!