Government Funding

Drastic cuts in government funding coupled with rising healthcare costs in 1995 forced the

adoption of new management techniques in the healthcare industry in Hong Kong. A

management technique that had gained prominence in the United States from 1995 to 2000 in

the healthcare industry was continuous quality improvement, or CQI. Also in 1995, hospitals

in Hong Kong adopted CQI as a strategy for change and for improving quality while

containing costs. Queen Mary Hospital (QMH), in particular, established a CQI Unit that

focused entirely on improving the quality of its services to its patients. The CQI model that

the unit adopted followed the four steps of Focus, Analyse, Develop and Execute (FADE).

This model helped QMH to achieve the CQI objectives in its project “Pre-Operative Skin

Preparation: Shaving and Pre-Operative Baths”. The CQI Unit’s intention was to administer

the same CQI model in other areas, one of which was the “Food Wastage Minimisation”

project. Would the same FADE model, the methodology, the approach and the success

factors in the implementation be applicable to this new CQI undertaking? What were the

critical CQI characteristics that would contribute to a significant outcome in minimising food

wastage at QMH? A critical factor was how the CQI Unit should implement other changes

using CQI. How should the CQI Unit respond to organisational resistance and managing

professionals