There is a growing emphasis on continuous improvement as a route to tackle the current challenges facing the NHS. There is already a great deal of improvement work happening in providers, and NHS trusts know provider collaboratives are one of the key vehicles for delivering systems’ aims.
Board members are keen to harness the power of shared improvement approaches to create the optimism and energy needed to tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access, and rebuild towards higher quality of care for the benefit of local people.
To help, NHS Providers has joined forces with the Q community, with support from the Health Foundation and NHS England, to deliver a programme of peer learning for senior leaders on how provider collaboratives can develop shared improvement approaches with an equity lens embedded from the outset – Provider collaboratives: Improving equitably.
Our peer learning events and resources help board members share the challenges and opportunities they face in creating a positive improvement culture in partnership, and consider how to embed a focus on inequity into existing and new quality improvement work.
The programme can be accessed in a number of formats via NHS Providers’ virtual knowledge hub:
- Board resources
- Peer learning events
The programme provides much-needed space to take a step back from the busy day, with access to expertise and experienced peers, alongside examples of evidence-based practice. It is designed to align with NHS IMPACT- NHS England’s new national approach to improvement which aims to support trusts to create the culture and conditions for continuous improvement to deliver better care for patients and better outcomes for communities.
Relevant to all board members with a role to play in enabling and championing large-scale improvement and executive board-level leads for tackling health inequalities, as well as collaborative directors, clinical leaders and senior improvers, the programme will consider what it means to turn commitment into meaningful, sustainable action.
This programme builds on NHS Providers’ Trust-wide Improvement programme, supported by the Health Foundation, during which members from 135 trusts came together in different ways to explore approaches to improvement, supporting leaders to develop their skills and confidence.