Public Health Staff Encouraged to Ask Better Questions to Drive Better Outcomes – Innovation and Transformation Take Centre Stage at Staff Development Day
Last week, NHS Lothian Public Health Business and Administration Staff came together for a dedicated Development Day, featuring an interactive session co-delivered by Samantha Smith-Garrett, Senior Innovation Programme Manager, and Jenny Long, Director of Transformation.
The session invited colleagues to explore how innovation, transformation and continuous improvement can help address some of the most significant challenges facing health and social care, while highlighting the valuable role that business and administration staff play in driving positive change.
Starting with the Problem
A key message throughout the session was the importance of beginning with a clear understanding of the problem before jumping to solutions.
Drawing on experience from across healthcare, government and science, Jenny encouraged attendees to remain curious, work collaboratively and embrace learning. Participants explored how asking better questions can lead to better decisions and ultimately better outcomes for patients, staff and communities.
The discussion also considered the challenges facing health and care systems, including increasing demand, workforce pressures, financial constraints and changing population needs. Attendees reflected on how these pressures require organisations to think differently, adopt new approaches and focus on sustainable transformation.
A key theme of the day was that transformation is not a single activity. The audience considered three complementary approaches: ensuring services operate reliably, continuously improving existing processes, and embracing innovation and redesign when entirely new ways of working are needed. Innovation was presented not as a “shiny new technology” or a standalone project, but as a disciplined process focused on solving real problems, testing ideas and improving outcomes.
Understanding Innovation
Building on these themes, Samantha introduced the work of Health Innovation South East Scotland (HISES), one of Scotland’s Regional Innovation Hubs. The audience learned how HISES supports the development, testing, evaluation and adoption of innovative solutions across health and social care by bringing together the NHS, academia, industry, local authorities and communities.
Participants explored the different types of innovation, including:
- Product Innovation: New or improved medicines, medical devices and technologies.
- Service Innovation: New models of care delivery and redesigned services.
- Process Innovation: Improved ways of working, pathways and systems.
The session highlighted that innovation is not solely about technology. Instead, it is about identifying challenges, generating ideas, testing solutions and delivering measurable improvements.
Putting Learning into Practice
One of the highlights of the day was a practical Innovation Lab exercise, where attendees worked in groups to apply the HISES Innovation framework to real challenges from their own areas of work.
Using structured problem-definition techniques, teams explored:
- What the problem is
- Who is affected
- Why it matters
- What evidence is available
- What success would look like
- The consequences of doing nothing
The exercise sparked lively discussion and demonstrated how business and administration professionals can make a significant contribution to service improvement by helping teams understand problems, analyse data, coordinate activity and support implementation.
Looking Ahead
The session reinforced the important contribution Public Health Business and Administration Staff make to innovation and transformation across NHS Lothian.
By taking time to understand challenges, collaborate across disciplines and test new approaches, staff can help create services that are more effective, sustainable and centred around the needs of the people and communities they serve.
As NHS organisations continue to respond to growing demand and increasing complexity, the contribution of Public Health Business and Administration Staff will remain essential in supporting evidence-based decision-making, innovation and sustainable transformation across health and care services.
“Better Questions, Better Decisions, Better Outcomes” was a simple but powerful message from the day, reminding us that meaningful innovation starts with curiosity, understanding and a willingness to think differently.
