About this Presentation
This session tells the story of a New Zealand surgeon who, with no formal business training, turned to TOC to improve both patient outcomes and financial performance. Guided by Graham Scott, the surgeon identified the true bottleneck in his practice—then aligned all operations to support it. The result was a more profitable, efficient, and calm environment. This practical case demonstrates how TOC thinking can revolutionize not just systems, but mindset—and how these principles apply across both public and private healthcare settings.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
Traditional operating room bottlenecks aren’t just about slots and staff — they’re about system constraints, and identifying the true constraint enabled the surgeon to redesign workflows for dramatically faster throughput.
The session shows how applying the 5 Focusing Steps (FOCCCUS model) reframed surgical lists, instruments, and support processes into a coordinated flow rather than isolated tasks.
It teases that once non-constraints were subordinated and resources aligned to the bottleneck, the clinic could deliver more with less variation — improving predictability, utilization, and patient access.
Instructor(s)
Brian Whitley
Dr Brian Whitley Brian graduated BDS, University of Otago, in Dunedin, in 1983 before spending 2 years as a Dental House Surgeon at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand, then a further 2 years as a Senior House Officer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Basingstoke District Hospital and The Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK. He completed MDS in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) University of Otago in 1990 and was a Senior Registrar in OMS in Auckland in 1991 and at Waikato Hospital in 1992. Brian completed the specialist qualification FRACDS (OMS) in Melbourne, Australia, in July 1992 and from January 1993 until July 1994 was a Clinical Fellow in OMS at the University of Texas Health Science Centre, Houston, Texas, USA. He has over 30 years’ experience in Oral and maxillofacial Surgery, including surgical implant dentistry. He is former Chairman of the NZ Branch of The Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (ANZAOMS). Brian is a Fellow of the International College of Dental Surgeons (FICD) and in 2017 was awarded the prestigious “Colleague of the Year Award “by the New Zealand Dental Surgeons Association. In 2022, Brian received the Distinguished Service Award from ANZAOMS.
Graham Scott
Graham is a Fellow Chartered Accountant who lives in New Zealand. He owned his own practice for 25 years before selling to concentrate on TOC teaching and consulting. In 2020 he completed a Master of Commerce under Professor Vicky Mabin that applied TOC thinking to organizational budgeting. In 2021 Graham published "Practice Makes Profit", a book that simplifies TOC by using small business examples that helped a surgeon increase his profit 20x. "Simplifying TOC and numbers.