NHS Education for Scotland: Plan Do Study Act (PDSA)

Summary

Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles are an ideal quality improvement tool that can be used to test an idea by temporarily trialling a change and assessing its impact.

Content

• PDSA is a very structured four-step cycle which requires effort and discipline.
• It incorporates careful and detailed consideration of the following:
• Plan: A plan of what is to be tested including questions to be answered, predictions and answers to the questions and a plan for collection of data to answer the questions.
• Do: Carry out the test of change according to the plan, recording observations including unexpected outcomes/observations.
• Study: A comparison of the data against the predictions made in the plan and study the results.
• Act: Make a decision about the next course of action.
• Whilst the PDSA cycle originates from industry, it has been incorporated into the Model for Improvement
• It can be used to test ideas in the real or simulated context.