Speaking at the Chief Innovation Officers Summit in London, Chris Loughlan, Head of Innovation at the National Health Service, told a story about a quality improvement technique borrowed from a strange source but now adopted in hospitals. Say you go to a Chinese takeaway restaurant and order two spring rolls, one duck in ginger and an egg fried rice. The Chinese assistant will repeat the order back to you, ‘ You want two spring rolls, one duck in ginger and one egg fried rice.’ The assistant does not take the order to the kitchen until it has been confirmed. Repetition means clarification.
In a similar fashion when a doctor says to a nurse, ‘Please give Mr Jones 5 cc of insulin,’ the nurse repeats the order, ‘You want me to give Mr Jones 5 cc of insulin?’ It may seem mechanical but it avoids misunderstandings – and a simple misunderstanding can lead to tragic consequences in a hospital.
When absolute clarity of verbal communication is needed we can learn a lesson from the person at the Chinese takeaway counter.
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