Supporting Q Connections
Apply for funding to support continued collaborative working through activities that strengthen networks and share and apply learning.
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Supporting Q Connections provides up to £20,000 to Q members for eligible activities that support collaborative learning and improvement. You can apply for funding at any time. Our guidance provides step-by-step instructions for members wishing to apply.
Funding for your collaborative improvement work
Applications are open for Supporting Q Connections; the funding programme for Q members to build and strengthen networks across the improvement landscape.
Supporting Q Connections funds activities that help you collaborate across the improvement landscape to share and apply learning and increase the impact of your improvement work.
We are particularly keen to receive applications that enable the development of system-level networks.
We also welcome applications that can demonstrate they have senior leadership support, as well as applications that have considered how their networks could be mainstreamed.
This programme follows on from previous Q funding programmes Connecting Q Locally and Supporting Local Learning, which are now closed.
Supporting Q Connections is open to all Q members and Q partner organisations who are developing networking opportunities and connecting the Q community in their local or thematic area.
Proposals should focus on one or more of the following types of activity, up to a maximum of £20,000.
Applicants must provide a clear rationale for the chosen activities and methods and demonstrate how these will lead to tangible outputs or meaningful outcomes that benefit the Q community.
Examples of eligible activities
- Design and development work to support embedding Q effectively into local organisational learning. For instance, using funding to organise co-design sessions with Q members on Q’s role in supporting learning. Or creating facilitation capacity to support connections between members.
- Convening Q members to contribute to local work. This could be an event where Q members are invited to rapidly collaborate and advise on a specific improvement challenge.
- Activities that support peer learning between Q members and other people working to improve health and care. For instance, funding for Communities of Practice, Action Learning Sets, or Open Space events.
- Convening people around specific areas of interest to enable applied learning, rather than general networking. For example, to sustain a Q group .
- Activities that build understanding and encourage uptake of promising interventions from the Q community. Such as an event to encourage wider engagement in a Q Exchange project or other promising intervention being developed by a local Q member. Or creation of a set of case studies or ideas that have emerged through Q members.
- Activities that encourage the spread of promising insights and interventions through Q members. For example, local events or a ‘campaign’ to involve Q members in implementing the intervention.
- Interventions that help build the skills and knowledge needed locally for collaborative learning. Such as development sessions on the skills map or collaborative learning techniques.
Read about some projects we have funded
Aim: To provide the coaching skills needed to bring quality improvement teams on a change journey, tackling the challenge of how to make quality improvement tools part of everyday practice.
Through this project the team has:
- prepared 10 out of 16 participant portfolios for submission to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) for accreditation
- supported participants to bring the coaching into their QI practice
- taught the benefits of coaching for QI in the workplace.
The Coaching for Quality Improvement programme also covered starting a change project and maintaining momentum, examining what change approach may work best for the team/project and how to coach others to empower them to change.
It provided an opportunity for the team to share knowledge and collaborate with other health care professionals throughout the North West Coast. Feedback has been positive on both the structure and approach, which will be used during two new programmes to train up 40 new QI coaches.
Aim: To revitalise and rebrand the network to enable the sharing of best practice and knowledge.
In a 2023 survey, the improvement team at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust found a lack of understanding and confusion about QI, with skills rarely being used beyond training. They launched a strategy to create a ‘movement for improvement’, increasing visibility of QI and clarity around what it does and planned a conference to inspire the improvement community.
Through this project the team has:
- rebranded the QI team and launched the new strategy, leading to greater understanding of improvement efforts
- run a successful conference with more than 80 delegates covering a range of seniority and including the Integrated Care Board
- held an in-person two-day training session with a team of acute mental health inpatient staff.
Feedback was positive, with the first in-person two-day training session for acute mental health inpatient staff leading to more requests for support. Future scope includes launching an Improvement Academy (a peer-to-peer support network to help continuous learning) and an Improvement Exchange to share best practice.
Aim: To spread awareness of tools and materials that can help with networking and provide opportunities.
The project aimed to promote the Network Weavers Handbook, providing opportunities for people to learn more about the materials and their use. A series of resources showcasing tools and ideas used within the Q community had already been developed so this was a chance to reflect on the networking challenges members were facing and how these resources may help.
Through this project the team has:
- increased awareness of the suite of resources across the UK and Ireland
- increased external interest in the work of the Q community, attracting new members
- co-designed a validated self-assessment with Q members to identify the learning needs of the network.
COPE Scotland now aims to:
- facilitate two peer support sessions
- link with philosophy and ethics groups to plan an event looking into humanity in health care
- continue to use Network Weaving tools to build connections
- support more Q members to become Network Weavers and run their own sessions.
Aim: To scale communication and engagement events to share learning and build a culture of quality improvement at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust created a ‘Joy in Work’ celebration event, where they invited teams to share the learning from their Foundations for the Future improvement programme.
Through this project the team has:
- highlighted the benefits and shared the learning of quality improvement
- implemented improvement and innovation stations across three sites and virtually
- hosted visits and virtual meetings with several external NHS organisations.
Through this work, they recognised the importance of having a link for communications and engagement within the improvement team. The team will continue to develop several elements of the project, including their lunch and learn sessions, awards programme and implementing ‘Quality Street’ – a celebration of project learning.
Aim: To address the lack of connectivity between six key areas engaged with improvement – academia, health, social care, government policy/funding bodies, industry and third sector – and increase communication between them.
The Q Connect project in Wales set out to understand the process of research, evaluation and improvement across six key areas, assessing the range of outputs and possible duplication of effort.
Through this project the team has:
- conducted 100 interviews with stakeholders across the six areas to learn how things are done and identify gaps
- developed ideas and training opportunities to support the application of QI principles across the six areas
- improved understanding of quality improvement within Wales
- developed relationships across the region
- identified knowledge gaps and begun collaboration to address them.
Participant feedback included a desire for the study to be expanded. Future scope includes producing physical resources, running a Young Person’s Conference in collaboration with the Royal College of Psychiatrists Wales, and publicising the results further.
How to apply
You can find step-by-step instructions on how to apply for Supporting Q Connections in the applicant guidance, including how to use our online application portal.
Application deadlines and review timescale
Supporting Q Connections is a rolling programme, with quarterly funding periods. Q members can apply for funding at any time, but you must complete your application within the same quarterly period.
The dates for each quarterly funding period are:
- 1 January – 31 March
- 1 April – 30 June
- 1 July – 30 September
- 1 October – 31 December
Applications are independently assessed within eight weeks.
Note that we are unable to carry over incomplete applications and they cannot be retrieved from the application portal after the period’s closing date.
Living wage funder
As part of the Health Foundation, Q’s funding programmes are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.
Contact for further information
If you would like to discuss your application or can’t find the answer to your questions in the applicant guidance, please get in touch.
Email: sqc@health.org.uk
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