Diagnose
Observation Study
A Logic Twin is only as accurate as the evidence it is built from. Administrative data records what the system processed. It does not record what the system actually did. The informal workarounds, the undocumented queue disciplines, the gap between policy intent and operational reality: these are structurally significant and they do not appear in extracts. The Observation Study closes that gap, building inputs the Pathway Engine can trust.
What this delivers
The actual pathway topology
What the pathway does in practice, which may differ materially from the documented process. Informal workarounds and unrecorded operational decisions are often structurally significant. The model must represent what actually happens, not what the documentation says should happen.
A high-fidelity evidence base
Direct observation captures what administrative data cannot: actual queue discipline, real wait patterns, the operational decisions that shape demand routing. These are the inputs that determine whether the Logic Twin's output can be relied upon.
Policy-practice divergence mapped
Where operational practice has drifted from policy intent, the binding constraint may lie in the gap: not in the written rules, but in how they are applied. Mapping this divergence is the precondition for an accurate model.
A validated foundation for the Pathway Engine
The accuracy of the System Reliability Rating is bounded by the quality of its inputs. An Observation Study produces the inputs that system-level data alone cannot supply: confirmed topology, verified queue behaviour, and mapped operational practice.
How it works
Structured observation of the pathway in operation, combined with operational data review and practitioner interviews focused on what the logic actually does, not what it should do. The goal is not qualitative research. It is evidence collection for a mathematical model.
The study requires on-site access at the points where care coordination decisions are made: the site operations room, the ED coordinator desk, theatres and waiting list planning, and where relevant the cancer PTL review or MDT meeting. The study is conducted without disrupting operational staff on shift. Access to a senior coordinator with significant experience in the role, available to answer questions when not on shift, substantially improves the quality of evidence collected.
Observation is scoped to the nodes where divergence between policy and practice is most likely to be structurally significant: referral intake, triage, scheduling, and discharge. At each node, the study records actual behaviour, how decisions are made, what rules are applied, and where the documented process and the operational reality part ways.
The output is a validated dataset, a confirmed pathway topology, a written report, and a briefing. These inputs go directly into the Pathway Engine, which calculates the System Reliability Rating from observed pathway behaviour as the percentage probability of meeting the target every month. The assessment reflects the system as it runs. That is the only version of the model whose verdict can be trusted.