The Improvement Fund: cultivating improvement ideas at a local level – Gavin Russell

Posted on July 12, 2017

Headshot2 At Healthcare improvement Scotland we understand that it’s important to cultivate ideas for change at a local level, especially where there is clear potential to inform and influence national practice and learning.

To support this, we launched the Improvement Fund in September 2016 to give health and social care organisations the opportunity to apply for funding to allow them to design and test new solutions to help to address health and social care issues at a local level. We invited applications for grants between £5000 to £75000 for funding over a 12-15 month period.

We’ve had an overwhelming amount of interest with a wide variety of ideas coming in from a range of organisations across Scotland.

We’re delighted to have awarded 7 very different projects spread across NHS boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, housing and the third sector. The range of projects include:

support for introducing money advice services within GP practices in deprived communities,
art-based projects to support people with profound learning difficulties,
immediate access to preventative healthcare for the homeless, and
technology-based solutions to provide multiple sclerosis patients with direct services to their home.

To learn more about the recipients of this year’s fund, you can visit the ihub website.

We are really excited about working with the project teams to track progress throughout the funding period and evaluate the impact the interventions have had on the quality of care for people in Scotland. We’ve already begun initial project meetings with awarded projects and the onsite visits have really enhanced the experience for us as funders, giving us a valuable insight into the work we are funding. We’ll be looking to share the learning from the projects regularly throughout the duration of the funding period, so keep an eye out on our website for any updates.

As this was our launch year, going through the process for the first time has given us an opportunity for valuable learning and feedback, which we are building into the planning of the second year of the Improvement Fund.

Thank you to everyone who got in touch this year, it’s been great to see so many innovative ideas come in. We will be opening again later this year for next year’s applicants and will release more details on the next funding opportunity in due course.

Related content
Find out more about our Improvement Fund:

http://ihub.scot/a-z-programmes/improvement-fund/

Read our media release for this year’s Improvement Fund awards:

http://ihub.scot/latest-news/health-and-social-care-organisations-across-scotland-get-additional-funds-to-improve-safety-and-care/

Categories: Uncategorized

The future of health and social care policy in Scotland – Richard Norris, Visiting Fellow, Academy of Government

Posted on June 23, 2017

Richard Norris Pic_thumb Since March I have been working with colleagues in the Academy of Government to explore new ideas in health and social care. While I am already listening to people working in services, and linking up with academics, I want to use this blog to explain the purpose of my work, and give you the chance to let me know what you think.

Things are changing in the way we deliver health and social care services in Scotland. We are at the start of a new era. No one believes that going on as we are is a credible option.

This country is bringing the delivery of health and social care together for the first time. New technologies are increasingly available. Whilst it is good that people are living longer, we face the demographic changes of an ageing population. Service users and communities across Scotland rightly want to have more say. And rising demand, rising costs and pressures on Government finances means money is stretched. All this has created a need for rapid change and the prospect of a health and social care system that will be completely transformed in 10 to 15 years time.

These developments will present tremendous opportunities for improving care and utilising new technologies to provide cutting edge treatment, but will also present challenges about how to prioritise and make best use of limited resources.

Through my work at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, it is clear our organisation is in a unique position to support policy makers, communities and the services themselves. We have a wealth of knowledge and intelligence from our work with stakeholders across a broad spectrum of health and social care, bringing together the areas of improvement support, evidence, assurance and public involvement.

That is why I am currently working with the University of Edinburgh’s Academy of Government on an initiative to provide the evidence on which we can base our plans for the future of health and social care in Scotland. I will be bringing together academics, researchers, people working in services, community representatives and policy makers to develop policy ideas to inform and influence public policy in Scotland.

The themes I am looking at include:

the likely impact of emerging technologies, future policy direction and financial resources on the delivery of health and social care services
the most effective ways to ensure that user voices, and citizen voices, are heard distinctively and fairly, particularly when they deliver different contrasting messages
how decision making structures can gain the confidence of local communities, professionals, providers and other stakeholders, and
the rise in interest in participatory and deliberative approaches to involving citizens and how these can be balanced with the need for effective decision making

The changes that are coming to health and social care in Scotland are not specific to Scotland; all health and social care systems are undergoing similar transformations, and I will be keen learn how all parts of the NHS in the UK and beyond are approaching these issues. I will be blogging at regular intervals throughout the next year on these topics, featuring the thoughts and ideas that I encounter. Some will no doubt will be controversial. One of my chief concerns is how do we have a vibrant policy discussion in Scotland that is not confined to ‘experts’, captured by special interests, or limited by any political constraints. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a line!

Visit the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website

Categories: Uncategorized

Midwives, Ministers, Minions… and the Quality Improvement Awards – Cheryl Clark

Posted on June 13, 2017

The picture above shows me in November 2016. Catriona Shearer (on my left) had declared I was the winner in the ‘Quality Improvement Champion’ category at the Scottish Government and Healthcare Improvement Scotland Quality Improvement Awards. On my right is Mark McDonald (Scottish Government Minister for Childcare and Early Years). The minister said to me, ‘Congratulations – a popular choice by the sound of it’. I answered a tad too loudly, ‘Thanks very much Martin’. Martin?! By now, multiple cameras were pointing at us. Trying to smile I couldn’t help internally cringing at my faux pas.

Winning was not the only surprise of the night. One of the reasons I was nominated was my improvement approach in NHS Lanarkshire as a midwife improvement advisor. I loved my job. I was always looking for dynamic ways to engage my colleagues in this funny world of quality improvement and improvement methodology. , I decided to draw attention to our data by pinning some minions from the film Despicable Me on our quality improvement board. We had Kevin presenting postpartum haemorrhage work whilst Stuart proudly highlighted Maternity Early Warning Score chart testing – it worked a treat. What does this have to do with my award? As I was about to make my stage exit, from nowhere a bright-yellow object was hurled towards me. I wondered if I was being heckled, but eventually I realised what was happening. My lovely team at NHS Lanarkshire bought me the minion as a sort of tribute. I laughed for the next hour. What a lovely gift and extremely thoughtful idea!

Enough self-promotion! I’d like to encourage you to think about nominating someone for a QI Award. The night was incredible – one of passion and pride at what Scotland is achieving. Celebrating this commitment and passion through the QI Awards was a brilliant opportunity to network, learn from others and spread the good work. Every finalist had a video presentation of their improvement project. They were emotional to watch – we were all glued to them. All featured front-line staff with a passion to improve using improvement methodology to better outcomes. Each project had a positive impact on a mum, dad, granny, baby, three year olds, five year olds, all of us in the room, the list is endless. There were tears during some at the stories and a public display of respect for winners and runners up. But this is just a handful of the incredible work ongoing across Scotland.

As I type I am looking at my award and reflecting on the improvement work I was privileged to be part of and impact it had on the families and staff. You may have noticed past tense being used a lot. The last 12 months for me have been life changing professionally. I now work in Healthcare Improvement Scotland as an associate improvement advisor, managing the SPSP maternity care programme. I am a midwife, and despite not working in a clinical role, I will always refer to myself as a midwife. Although I have moved from the ‘clinical field’, I now support colleagues across Scotland to improve the safety and quality of maternity care, and I love this new role.

I am extremely honoured that someone took the time to nominate me for the QI Awards and that I was shortlisted and crowned a winner. It was a brilliant night to be shared with colleagues who are all working hard to improve the lives of others. Is there someone in your area of work who is deserving to be nominated of this category or others? If so, take the time to apply to the awards. You just never know what it could do for the individual, team or NHS board. By nominating, you are helping spread the word about the best that is going on throughout the child’s journey. Who knows, the nomination, and the story behind it, might inspire someone else to start an improvement journey of their own. Go on, do it.

Related content:

www.qiawards.co.uk

Visit the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Healthcare Improvement, healthcare improvement scotland, ihub, quality improvement awards

Volunteers Week 2017 – Alan Bigham

Posted on May 31, 2017

alan_bigham I first volunteered without knowing it. As a 19-year old who had been asked to coach the youth American football team I’d just progressed from, I saw myself a coach not considering the nature of what I was doing.

By chance, I ended up working in the third sector for most of my life. In advocacy, volunteer development and organisational development roles. I’d seen the difference it made and had found a way to be a part of that – which has ultimately led to my current role managing the Volunteering in NHSScotland Programme.

Across Scotland, over one million people regularly volunteer in the communities, from their homes and in local and national charities. The public sector is no different: we have over 5,000 people regularly volunteering in the NHS in Scotland.

We can often get caught up in the language of what is and isn’t volunteering. I was once caught up in a conversation with a retired gentleman, very politically active all his life who told me he never gave to charity or volunteered on the basis that it was “letting the state off the hook”. He was adamant that for him to support charities or to volunteer was in supporting of the abdication of the state in its statutory duties to provide services for its citizens. I asked him if he considered his political activity as volunteering – he didn’t, because the word ‘volunteer’ had this other, negative, association for him. Like many people who volunteer, he thought of the ‘cause’ before the action, the term ‘volunteering’ can at times be a barrier itself.

I’ve been fortunate to have met many people who volunteer, who recognise it as something positive that transcends political argument above or the various theories of volunteerism. One could summarise common motivations as “doing it because it’s good” – good for them, people around them, communities, the country, the ecosystem, the planet.

The concept of altruism is often misrepresented in volunteering. Volunteering isn’t about giving your time or your skills for nothing in return and most certainly not to your detriment. It’s about you making a free choice to do something, and should be beneficial to all concerned.

I have learned much from volunteering and the cross-over of learning from work to the various roles I’ve had and vice-versa would now be difficult to disentangle. I know the experience I’ve gained has helped me move into jobs I would otherwise not have been considered for. I never set out with that intention, it just happened, much like how I found myself volunteering in the first place.

In Scotland, we’ve seen a decline over the past few years in the number of people who volunteer. We don’t know why. There are various theories about why this might be: how people interpret the term ‘volunteer’, increasing external influences and commitments on people’s lives, economic factors and the emerging episodic nature of volunteering (where people will drop in and out throughout their lives). One of the most startling findings in the last decade was that primary reason for not volunteering was that people simply hadn’t been asked (you may now consider this blog post, an ask!).

I still coach but I have also been a sports assistant for children with additional support needs, a citizen advocate, a child protection officer, conservation volunteer and a driver for older people. I’ve seen young people grow and develop, the impact of conservation work, the enjoyment of social contact for isolated people on Christmas day.

If there’s something you’re passionate about, if you want to put your skills and experience to use, if you want to push yourself, if you want to be a part of something that’s greater than the sum of our individual’s parts – why not have a look at what you can do? If not today, then in the future?

More info

You can find volunteering opportunities across Scotland at www.volunteerscotland.net or by visiting your local Volunteer Centre.

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: healthcare improvement scotland, public involvement, scotland, volunteering

Our vision for better health and social care – Robbie Pearson

Posted on May 12, 2017

Robbie Pearson Portrait 2 It has been three years since Healthcare Improvement Scotland last set our long term strategy.

That is why, for me, it feels like this is the right time to take stock and reflect on our strategic direction and priorities.

I believe Healthcare Improvement Scotland is an adaptable organisation, but working in a system facing pressures and growing demand, I know that, just like our caring services, we need to be clear we are focussing our efforts where they will make most difference.

Better quality health and social care for everyone in Scotland is a compelling challenge. It matters to every single one of us – whether you work to deliver care, or depend on the support our frontline services provide across Scotland 365 days a year.

Our aim is to help those delivering care drive up standards and make sustainable improvements in the care they provide for you and your family.

I often describe our organisation as having many parts, but they are all unified by that one single purpose. At Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we have many tools at our disposal, but crucially they are all focussed on making care better, and ensuring it is high quality wherever it is delivered.

So let me update you on the stage we are at. Working with our key stakeholders and staff we’ve developed a draft strategy. You can read it at the end of my blog.

But we are not finished and we are still looking for input and views to shape the final version.

At its heart, I hope our strategy sets out how we will deliver this organisation’s core aim of making care better over the next three years to 2020.

It describes how we will enable people to make informed decisions about their own care and treatment – putting individuals at the heart of designing services.

In the longer term, I want Healthcare Improvement Scotland to be able to offer more focussed and tailored support in local areas – not just at a national level and our plan sets out that direction of travel.

I hope the plan makes really clear how all our many contributions combine together to deliver better quality health and social care for everyone in Scotland.

When you consider that just the first phase of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme has helped deliver a 17 per cent reduction in hospital mortality – supporting staff to save more lives – then the potential of our work is clear.

From our unique position, with all the tools at our disposal, I know Healthcare Improvement Scotland is able to look across the whole range of services in Scotland, seeing not just part of the jigsaw but the whole picture and how the pieces fit together.

But we must also listen to and respond to all our partners across Scotland if we are to drive the delivery of better care.

On that basis, we are still refining our plan, and looking for views and opinions to improve it. If you want to contribute, if you have any views, just email at the address below, and we’ll work really hard to take them into account. We are looking to finalise this in June – so any comments will need to be with us for Friday, June 9th.

Send us your comments:

Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Strategic Plan for Supporting Better Care in Scotland 2017-2020 – Draft
If you have any comments or feedback on our plan please share them with us via email: comments.his@nhs.net

Categories: Uncategorized

Scotland’s patient safety track record is a model for other countries: Professor Don Berwick

Posted on April 6, 2017

DB_thumbnail_image One of the biggest questions facing every nation is how to maintain healthcare systems using stretched resources while caring for an increasingly ageing population. For many countries, simply maintaining the status quo in quality of care is a massive achievement.

But to improve the quality of care it’s crucial that leaders know how they link improvement to the financial pressures, so improvement becomes the best way to reduce costs.

Recently I was delighted to be invited by Healthcare Improvement Scotland to work with some of the most senior leaders across all the NHS boards in Scotland as part of a masterclass on leading for improvement.

Although it’s true that in any large system things go wrong, the healthcare leaders in this country have achieved some stunning successes in improving patient safety, particularly around surgical survival rates, post-operative complication rates, reduction of acquired infections and pressure ulcers. These are carefully measured improvements that could stand up as benchmarks for success for any country.

When things do go wrong, we need a quality control system, such as inspections. It’s like fixing a flat tyre on a car. You can’t progress without it being fixed. But it’s important that that is not all that’s happening. You need to create an environment in which continual improvement is everyone’s job and each year people can count on living longer and having few complications in their healthcare. That pairing of the quality control function with the improvement function is what’s so unique in Scotland.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) is just one example of the real joined-up thinking that is leading the way to constant improvement. From an initial focus on acute hospitals, their work now includes safety improvement programmes for acute adult, healthcare associated Infections, maternity and children, medicines, mental health and primary care. The reality is that Scotland is the internationally leading success story of healthcare safety improvement. Other nations have made progress, but not to the degree of comprehensiveness – and, I think, scientific discipline – that Scotland has.

The innovations and lessons learned across healthcare improvement are now being applied to social care. Taking these competencies and moving them to the larger picture of health and social care integration is a bold move and one that is unmatched globally.

Part of this new approach is putting the patient’s voice at the centre of care. There’s a global trend now for a real empowered patient voice. Many countries are on that journey – but again Scotland is ahead of the curve and leading the way in a much more invitational system for people to speak up about their care to make the system better.

It’s clear to me that Scotland, compared to other nations, should be extremely proud of what it has done with the improvement of healthcare, and extremely excited about what it can do if it sticks with the ambition to make this country the healthiest one in the world.

Improvement is a continual journey and new challenges will always arise. But Scotland’s track record and history of leadership commitment gives me confidence that it is and will remain a model for others to look to.

Professor Don Berwick is President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Related content:

Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP)

Visit the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website

Categories: Uncategorized

Bold in scale, simple in aim: Why you should join Q – Penny Pereira

Posted on March 30, 2017

Q is a community – a critical mass of people who are all working, in many different ways, to improve health and care in the UK. The aim is to support continuous and sustainable improvement. Q is bold in scale, and simple in aim. We’re seeking to make it easier for people to share, learn and collaborate across boundaries because we think this is key to making a bigger difference for those we serve.

How? If you were to look at our theory of change the language we use is around enabling people to connect, develop, mobilise and support each other. While we know there is a lot of great improvement work happening at a local level, often it is limited to a professional group, location or time-restricted project. Q is creating opportunities to expand on this at scale, in real time, embedded within the system and spanning beyond a single location or group.

Q is unique in many ways. However one of the things that make it particularly appealing is the way it was created. We knew it needed to be designed by those who would use it so it would evolve in a way that complements what already exists, be genuinely useful and feel owned by the members. In 2015 we recruited 231 colleagues from across the UK to help design Q. This included 12 people who brought experience and insights from the Scottish system.

What is it members do once they are in the community? There is no minimum time commitment, and we have designed a range of online and face-to-face ways to connect that fit with peoples’ busy lives. Like with many things – the more you put in, the more you get out. Some of the opportunities for members are being delivered by the Health Foundation (for example our Q Improvement Lab and site visits programme). We will be partnering with QI Connect to support the reach of this fantastic webinar programme. There are other activities which will be led by our partners Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Q members also self-organise, with a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for example set up and run by members. We have lots more to share with you via our website.

One of the most important things to emphasise is that Q is designed to support the work members are already doing in improvement and not for it to be an additional project. One of our members Mark Kelvin talks about the “invaluable safe space to share our concerns, challenges and successes”.

We are nearing two years on from when we started co-designing and Q is really flourishing. There are currently 799 members and by the end of the year there will be several thousand.

Working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, the latest opportunity for those who are working or volunteering in Scotland to apply to join Q is open until 10 April. We ask people to reflect on their experience and expertise of improvement and how they can benefit and contribute to the community. Q is rich in the diversity of its members with patients, researchers, policy makers and senior leaders joining people working at the frontline of health, social care and other services. Already nearly 50 people from Scotland are members of Q. I’d encourage you to join us.

For more details about how to join, check out the Q website at the link below.

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Healthcare Improvement, ihub