Q – a Community for Health and Care Professionals Launches in South West
On Friday 04 November 2016 the Health Foundation, NHS Improvement and the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) announced the start of a drive for people to join Q – a growing community of people with improvement expertise from across the UK. Following the successful running of a Q Asset Mapping survey in June 2016, which sought to map quality improvement skills and gauge interest in quality across the South West (SW), the Health Foundation and NHS Improvement selected the SW as one of three locations to launch a Q at a local level (the other partners are the North East and North Cumbria AHSN and the South West AHSN).
Q is not a taught programme, but a network of support for those already knowledgeable in and undertaking improvement work. There is no membership fee to join and people in the community have the flexibility to participate in ways that fit with their lives and improvement priorities. Q members will have opportunities and access to activities to share, connect, exchange and learn from one another, across different professional groups and across geographical boundaries.
Rosie Benneyworth, Managing Director of SW AHSN said: “In June this year, the SW AHSN delivered a survey on behalf of the Health Foundation, which revealed that the SW has a significant existing strength and interest in quality improvement. The Health Foundation, together with NHS Improvement, have recognised this regional strength and expertise and are keen to further support the demand and interest in quality improvement through extending and developing Q.”
Penny Pereira, Q Programme Director, The Health Foundation commented: “Q represents a diverse community of people working in improvement in health and care across the UK. The Health Foundation, have worked to co-design Q with 231 founding members. It aims to make it easier for people leading improvement to share ideas, enhance their skills and make changes that bring improvements to health and care.”
The SW AHSN has led the extension of quality improvement in health and care training in the South West. Over the past two years, 251 professionals from over 43 organisations have been supported by the SW AHSN to receive quality improvement training from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI), whose methodology has been recognised as world leading.
For further details on how to join Q please email info@swahsn.com or click here
