Recently, I’ve had reason to reflect on the increasing focus on equity in the improvement world and within the Q community. When we hosted a stream on this theme at the 2020 Q community event, it felt like we were helping to connect and amplify work happening in pockets. The significant number of projects with an equity angle that were chosen by the community in this year’s Q Exchange reflects an evolution to this being a widespread focus.
Yet, just as with improvement in other areas, we will struggle to achieve sustainable scale and embed a focus on equity unless we create leadership support and the right conditions within and between organisations.
We’re thrilled to have joined forces with NHS Providers, to develop a new peer learning programme for provider collaboratives in England. Provider collaboratives: improving equitably will share learning on how collaboratives can use shared improvement approaches to tackle inequalities while driving progress on key operational priorities.
Provider collaboratives are one of the key vehicles for delivering the ambitions of system working.
With the recent and welcome launch of NHS Impact, there is a growing emphasis on continuous improvement as a route to tackle the current challenges facing the NHS, with an expectation this informs ways of working at every level. This high-level NHS approach highlights the importance of board leaders and includes a focus on health inequalities as an enabler and driver of improvement-led delivery.
The Provider collaboratives: improving equitably programme is supported by NHS England and the Health Foundation. It will provide peer learning events and resources to help board members share the challenges and opportunities they face in creating a positive improvement culture in partnership. Many leaders are making quality improvement a strategic focus for their collaborative, with a range of activity underway. In the conversations we’ve been having with leaders, we’re hearing they want to put equity at the heart of their improvement approach but are not yet clear on how to achieve this in practice.
The opportunity for Q members
Through this programme, we will be able to amplify what’s known and what’s happening in relation to collaborative improvement, with an embedded focus on equity. And we’ll be able to understand what’s more challenging so that we can help find a path to unlocking progress. If there are things you’re learning or work you’re doing that you think we could share more widely, please do drop us a line.
For Q members working in provider collaboratives, and others who want to learn more, we’ll be sharing insights throughout this programme, leveraging NHS Providers’ expert connection with boards to develop resources designed for senior leaders. These will be on NHS Providers’ knowledge hub. We’d love to know what you find helpful to pass on, wherever you are in the UK. There will also be spaces available for Q members to attend upcoming peer learning webinars so do keep a look out for those opportunities in the coming months.
Q members often tell us of the importance of board-level support for improvement, which is why we’re putting increasing focus on bringing the expertise of the community and our skills in collaboration to system-level leaders. We’ll be influencing as we go, helping senior leaders and NHS England understand what’s possible when it comes to prioritising equity alongside pressing operational priorities such as backlog and financial recovery.
Find out more in the NHS Providers knowledge hub.
Further reading
Five principles for implementing the NHS Impact approach to improvement in England