Over 100 New Members in the South West Join the Q Community – a Ground Breaking Improvement Initiative
Following a recent recruitment programme across the region, the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) has selected over 100 people to join Q – a new initiative aiming to support continuous improvement in the quality of care for patients. This sees a significant increase from the initial ten members who were in the founding cohort to now having around 130 members in the region.
Q is an initiative aiming to support continuous improvement in the quality of care for patients and is led by independent charity the Health Foundation in partnership with NHS Improvement. In 2015 Q was designed by a founding cohort of 231 people – including doctors, nurses, managers, commissioners, researchers, patients, policy makers and others.
Q is connecting people dedicated to improving the quality of care across the UK. The initiative will make it easier for people with expertise in how to make things better from all the different organisations and patient groups that make up the health and care system to share ideas, enhance skills and collaborate.
The new Q members across the South West are all experienced in improvement and come from a wide range of roles, organisations and parts of the wider health and care system. This includes acute hospitals, primary care, academia, commissioning groups, mental health, community services, as well as patients and the voluntary and charity sectors. New members have been recruited to join Q based on their experience and capability in improvement, and their commitment to building a community built on the principles of collaborating, sharing and supporting a wide range of improvement activities.
Laura Wheeler, SW AHSN Interim Director of Improvement, said: “The growth and enthusiasm for the Q Community across the South West is a testament to the breadth and strength of improvement capabilities that already exist in the region. The SW AHSN looks forward to continuing to play an important role in connecting people together, energising those with improvement skills to support their organisational and STP priorities and encouraging greater collaboration and the sharing of ideas, experiences and skills.”
Following the pilot programme taking place through three regional AHSN’s, including the South West, the Q community now has 799 members nationwide and is set to grow further during 2017, as opportunities to apply are rolled out through the other AHSN’s and across the UK to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Penny Pereira, Programme Director for Q at the Health Foundation, comments:
“By making it much easier for people to share best practice and collaborate, Q aims to help make sure everywhere in the UK can tap into the ideas and inspiration of others working to the same aim: so we can together deliver real benefits for patients wherever they live in the UK.
Jim Mackey, Chief Executive at NHS Improvement, comments: “Q will boost the skills of its individual members, but also encourage a nurturing of talent and sharing of innovation and passion that will be vital as we build the capacity and capability of quality improvement across the NHS.”
For more information please visit the Q website or contact the Improvement team at info@swahsn.com
