Rachel Yates, GIRFT’s co-founder and director of clinical improvement, has been awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 King’s New Year Honours.
Rachel is director of the GIRFT programme and its co-founder alongside Professor Tim Briggs. She receives the honour for services to clinical quality improvement and patient safety.
Formerly a public affairs and clinical management consultancy professional, Rachel has worked for the NHS for 20 years with over 30 years’ experience in delivering complex data-driven clinical improvement programmes, managing trade associations, policy development, public affairs & relations, stakeholder engagement, government relations and corporate journalism.
In 2012, she worked alongside Professor Briggs to publish the first Getting It Right First Time report, looking at the state of England’s orthopaedic surgery provision. NHS England went on to fund the GIRFT project as a national pilot across England – hosted on behalf of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in Stanmore – offering a clinically-led, peer-to-peer review of adult elective orthopaedic practice in each provider trust. The resulting GIRFT national report for orthopaedic services was published in March 2015, helping to deliver efficiencies and savings of up to £30 million.
In 2016 the Government announced an additional £60m funding for GIRFT to expand and accelerate delivery of the programme, and in 2017 the programme was extended to cover more than 30 clinical specialties.
In 2019, the National Audit Office recognised the role of GIRFT in supporting trusts to identify recurrent and sustainable savings. Achievements in 2017-18 included reported savings of £1.45billion attributed to GIRFT and the Model Hospital data system.
In 2021 the National Audit Office recognised GIRFT’s support for elective recovery through the development of standardised patient pathways based on best practice.
Today, as part of NHS England, GIRFT and its methodology have been applied across more than 40 surgical and medical specialties and cross-cutting themes including diagnostics, day case surgery, outpatient services and clinical coding, using a data-driven, clinically-led approach to examine how things are currently being done and how they can be improved.
“I started working with Professor Briggs to develop the project that has evolved into the GIRFT programme when my younger son was at nursery, and he turns 18 next year. The programme is very much like another child to me after all these years and I’m immeasurably thrilled and honoured by this recognition. I’m also very proud of the impact we’ve had in addressing unwarranted clinical variation and improving patient safety and experience, and I feel that this award is also a recognition of all the dedicated people in our team too. I’m also really moved to think how chuffed my late parents would have been!”
“Rachel and I have worked side by side since the very beginning of GIRFT and she has been personally instrumental in developing the programme into the vital driver for NHS quality improvement and enhanced patient safety it is today. Her deep understanding of how influence and policy can drive quality improvements, alongside a real vocation for advocacy, mean that millions of NHS patients and thousands of clinicians have benefitted from the GIRFT approach that she helped to create. I am personally delighted to see her honoured by the King today, as it is so richly deserved.”
