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The NHS has a reputation for short-term thinking & is renowned for its fire-fighting abilities - Nobody is better than the NHS at reaching difficult targets quickly by sheer dint of effort. Plus the NHS must now cut its costs with ever increasing zeal.

The NHS is decades behind & ought to be a 'lean' organisation and will, no doubt, seek to catch up those lost decades in a matter of months.

However, because of these 'strengths', the NHS will fail to use 'lean' thinking as you suggest, Anon9:54. Instead, 'lean' will be translated as 'mean' and that will be to the detriment of patients e.g. someone will decide to cut immediate costs by letting waiting lists grow.

'Lean' is open to abuse & interpretation and the name cannot, of itself, give all staff the true key to success nor does it easily invite patient involvement - made worse because its esoteric Japanese phrases and jargon like Takt Time need to much explanation.

The best thing the NHS can do is to ditch 'lean', steal its best bits, and invent 'patient thinking' for itself.