GIRFT Associate model
Driving clinical and operational excellence in the NHS
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Associate model is a cornerstone of clinical improvement across the NHS, involving the collaborative sharing of expertise across NHS organisations to help deliver sustainable, clinically-led and data-driven change.
Overseen by Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT programme lead and NHS England’s National Director for Clinical Improvement and Elective Recovery, this innovative model empowers NHS colleagues to adopt best practice, optimise local operating models and deliver high-impact improvement.
Core principles and methodology
The GIRFT Associate model is rooted in the proven methodology of the GIRFT clinical improvement programme, which leverages:
- Clinical leadership: Specialty-specific clinical expertise ensures improvements are practical, relevant and grounded in the realities of frontline NHS service delivery.
- Multisource data: Robust, evidence-based insights from clinical, operational and patient outcome data are used to guide GIRFT’s targeted interventions.
- Operational experience: Senior NHS operational management expertise ensures that pragmatic solutions and guidance are tailored to local challenges.
- Co-production: Collaboration with professional bodies, research organisations and specialist medical charities ensures inclusive, stakeholder-driven change.
This approach utilises deep specialty-level understanding, avoiding generic improvement recommendations and addressing the daily challenges of delivering high-quality care within the constraints of NHS environments.
How it works
The GIRFT team, in partnership with NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the wider clinical and stakeholder community, work together to identify opportunities for improvement.
When a need is identified, expressions of interest are sought from NHS organisations and successful candidates are seconded for a fixed term. Funding for collaboration is provided at cost from within the GIRFT non-pay budget with no premium attached, ensuring cost efficiency in supporting the adoption of best practice.
GIRFT co-ordinates Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to allow for the supportive sharing of expertise between NHS organisations. These arrangements, ranging from one-off projects to long-term collaborations, allow clinical, operational and analytical expertise to be shared without direct contracting to GIRFT.
Associates become familiar with the GIRFT methodology, equipping them with the skills to develop data-driven insights and gain practical experience while supporting colleagues across the NHS. This “learning through doing” approach fosters both professional development and system-wide improvement.
What the Associates focus on
Our dynamic network of GIRFT Associate clinical experts and improvement professionals support the delivery of improvements in a number of ways, including:
- Theatre and outpatient efficiency: streamlining processes to maximise capacity and reduce delays.
- Digital transformation: integrating technology to enhance clinical and operational workflows.
- Increasing proactive and preventative care: promoting earlier intervention and prevention to reduce demand on acute services, while ensuring proactive, outcome-focused care.
- Analytics: analysing and presenting data to provide insights and benchmarking information to support clinical and operational improvement.
By utilising specialty-specific expertise, the Associate model ensures that improvements are tailored to the unique challenges of each clinical area, from elective care recovery to complex specialty services.
The collaborative nature of the model ensures trusts benefit from knowledge transfer, spread of best practice, enhanced training and sustainable change.
Why it matters
By harnessing the NHS’s internal expertise, it empowers clinicians and managers to lead transformative improvements while maintaining financial discipline. The model’s success lies in its ability to align clinical excellence with operational efficiency, delivering better patient outcomes and stronger system resilience.