Tell us a little bit about yourself and your improvement journey.

Before working in the NHS, my only real experience with Quality Improvement was in my previous role in the Alzheimer’s Society’s Information Governance team. The Society had failed an audit by the ICO and had been given a 9 month deadline to be compliant with the Data Protection Act or risked facing a large fine that would be extremely detrimental to the charity and the work they do. The most valuable lesson I learned from the project was the importance of understanding motivations of different people. There were a number of negative effects that failure of the enforcement notice could have on the organisation: loss of money; loss of credibility and possible loss of services that ultimately, would prevent the patients we supported from receiving services.

The most valuable lesson I learned from the project was the importance of understanding motivations of different people.

For some employees whose roles were far removed from service delivery, the idea of cutting a few jobs to pay a fine did not seem significant. Similarly, some on the ground workers felt that this was ‘head office business’, something that they did not have time to focus amidst in their day-to-day work with patients. It was important to resolve this as the project risked failure without engagement and support from all staff and volunteers.

Ultimately, the project was successful and I feel a large part of the huge improvement in such a short time period was down to understanding these individual motivations and ensuring people understood how the project would affect them.

Following that, I moved into my first NHS job working in the Patient Safety and Experience team at the Health Innovation Network (HIN), the Academic Heath Science Network (AHSN) for south London. Here, my QI knowledge grew by attending behavioural insights training and working with Hill + Knowlton Strategies. I used this knowledge to contribute to a successful Health Foundation bid around Catheter Care for the Behavioural Insights fund. The project resulted in a 30% reduction in Healthcare Associated Urinary Tract Infections in South London and was such a success that it resulted in a permanent Community of Practice made up of Nurses, Medical Directors, Clinicians and Patients.

I am now working in the QIPP (Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention) team at Haringey and Islington CCGs and hope that my experience in QI will grow even further.

What first attracted you to Q?

I first heard about the Q community through my manager when I joined the HIN. He was recruiting members for south London and suggested I apply myself. I am curious by nature and have always been passionate about the NHS (even when I didn’t work here) and about quality of care. Q seemed not only like a great place for resources, but a great place to meet people. I knew I wanted to learn more about improvement in the NHS but I also felt that, as a new member of the workforce, I could offer fresh insight and ideas to how services could improve.

I care deeply about the NHS deeply and want to ensure that it provides the highest quality of care to patients whilst also taking care of its staff.

As someone that has grown up in the UK, it’s very easy to take for granted how amazing the NHS is and I’ve realised, since working in it, how often the NHS strives to improve services and quality of care despite a constant changing political and financial landscape. This is something I find inspiring and wanted to be a part of.

What are you hoping to get out of Q?

Ultimately, I care deeply about the NHS and want to ensure that it provides the highest quality of care to patients whilst also taking care of its staff. Browsing through the Q site, there seems to be resources in abundance that I hope to make my way through. I’ve signed up to the Randomised Coffee Trials and I hope to meet people and learn about their experiences of QI in the NHS: what went well, what went wrong, what could be done better? I hope to expand my knowledge but I also hope that I can provide a fresh set of eyes and insight. I’m looking forward to collaborating with other members and I look forward to being part of the growing community.