Q members gathered in July for an open and compassionate conversation about the ongoing challenges they face as we begin to turn from pandemic response to creating a sustainable health and care service. Community Space is a new bi-monthly event for Q members to renew connections, learn and collaborate. Read more about the first workshop and be sure to book your place for the next Community Space.

I come to QI with an interest in developing transformational projects that are informed by the experience of front line staff, which is where I started my journey as a health care professional. For me, Community Space is a place of inspiration with great opportunities to connect. The use of silent pauses for reflection is particularly powerful. Although I know it can sometimes make people uncomfortable during meetings, silence can also be useful for reflection and deeper insight.

Community space enabled us to hear and share our challenges and not feel alone.

Community space enabled us to hear and share our challenges and not feel alone. As we emerge from the pandemic, we are on a difficult journey. Community Space is a life raft in a stormy sea.

During the pandemic, I was asked to focus fully on staff wellbeing and, because of that, it felt at times like the QI world had paused. What is reassuring about Community Space for me is the chance to reconnect with others who are facing similar challenges as I am, and in learning about initiatives that were done during the pandemic. I was interested to hear about how, during the development of the Gamification of Human Factors application, a key partnership collapsed because of the pandemic. There was a huge amount of learning from hearing about the contingency planning and how the project team had to improvise to get the project back on track by thinking creatively. Another aspect I really enjoy is being reminded about key QI tools, like the value mapping tool used by the Improvers Without Borders team to work up a set of shared areas of concern across their ICS. It just reminded me of how powerful it can be when used well, and I will be looking to align this with our improvement strategy.

Book your place for the next Community Space workshop, taking place Thursday, 23 September 2021.