The productive ward: encouraging teambuilding and innovation.

The aim of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's Productive Ward series is to remove wasteful activities from ward processes and reinvest the time saved in making care more interactive, stimulating, reliable and safe. This article describes how the introduction of Productive Ward on one unit in a mental health trust has delivered improvements in general ward organisation and a range of ward processes, and has motivated and empowered team members to make changes and innovate. The article also describes leadership and teamworking lessons that the ward matron and project facilitator have learnt.