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National Improvement Leaders Peer Spaces

This programme of support boosts the insight and collaboration opportunities available to national leaders so they can work together on major challenges in health care.

This unique series is a creative and confidential space for UK and Ireland leaders of improvement. We host a set of residential workshops over nine months, focusing on the most pressing issues affecting health and care. 

What are national improvement leader peer spaces?

Q have been working in partnership with national organisations for many years. During the COVID-19 pandemic we offered more tailored support which received positive feedback. These workshops are a formal continuation of that support, in recognition of the need for spaces for national leaders to connect and collaborate together on cross-system challenges. 

With ongoing intense financial and workforce pressures, we need to think radically about our approach to improving health and care. Dedicated peer support is just as necessary for the challenges ahead. 

We have seen real impact from holding protected space where national improvement leaders can learn together.  They have been able to share ideas, foster resilience and collaborate across nations, to move forwards with improvement work and make change happen. 

Through this work, we embed a culture and practice of improvement across the health and care system, that supports the work of Q members. Collectively, we can accelerate the improvement of health and care. 

I found being able to connect and network with the national leads or directors enormously beneficial with regards to maintaining perseverance in the role, and perseverance in the programmes of work that we’re trying to deliver.

Love the workshops. They are so motivational. They are a pick me up’ in facing the challenges.

Workshop content

Across the series’ we explore the overarching question: 

What is needed at national and regional level to create the conditions for collaborative improvement and learning to flourish?” 

The peer spaces then present emerging thinking and provide space for creative responses to this challenge. 

Who takes part?

Q’s National Improvement Leaders peer spaces is a limited programme for a small number of leaders with responsibility for leading improvement at the national level or across multiple levels of the health and care system.  Our peer spaces are led by Q and delivered by RUBIS QI. 

2024/2025 series

During our 2024/25 programme we have explored: 

  • Productivity 
  • Improvement delivery programme design 
  • Quality Management Systems 
  • Building capability at scale 

2023/2024 series

During the 2023/24 programme we explored: 

  • Supporting systems to develop the capability and conditions for improvement and learning 
  • Influencing national and regional organisations 
  • Designing and delivering improvement work 
  • The skills, roles and relationships needed to lead improvement work 

Impact

From previous years we’ve seen the breadth of ways this group leads to real impact and tangible outcomes: 

We’ve produced practical content and materials. For example, the cross-system improvement framework. This is a powerful tool now being used across health and care systems, and was the result of the 23/24 group’s work together. 

We’ve converted the rich insights generated by the group into relevant influencing materials. For example, a piece into the mindset shifts that we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Developing the framework has been immensely helpful because it’s allowed us to articulate within our own organisation and our own country in a sense, how we’re going about large-scale change

Embedding and scaling COVID innovations: the mindset shifts behind the specifics
The cross system improvement framework

If you’d like to find out more about this programme, please get in touch 

q@health.org.uk 

Discover more

  • Improvement works best when we work together. Q and NHS Providers are supporting health and care services to join forces for greater and more equitable impact. 
  • Support to publish

    2 minute read 
    We cover the costs for Q members to publish their work in open access journals. Check the criteria and apply. 
The Health Foundation

Q is led by the Health Foundation and supported by partners across the UK and Ireland

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