Brief:

Across our Trust we have trained over 100 Improvement Coaches who are committed to improving care with patients.  As individuals they display passion, drive and commitment to working with patients to co-design better services but we know they will achieve more together if we can strengthen their connections.

Each coach has a variety of skills, diverse professional background and upholds a role and position within the organisation or with our partners.

Once the programme of learning is finished there are key problems for the improvement coaches who enable them to continue lines of communication support each other and engage with service led improvement work. The key challenges to address are:

• Systematic follow up
• Understanding improvement activity
• Linking to trust wide improvement priorities
• Strengthening sustainability and spread
• Personal visibility as an improvement coach and their improvement successes
• Maintaining links with colleagues who have changed roles, moved organisations and wish to continue the improvement relationship
• Providing a platform to provide continuous development of improvement coaches and recruit staff to the organisation

Benefits and outcomes:

• Improved and sustainable outcomes to enhance patient care, safety and experience
• Improvement champions in all areas of the trust
• Engagement of the majority
• Integrating improvement into business as usual
• Strengthening the trust’s improvement culture
• Vanguard organisation for improvement £

How will we know a change had been an improvement?

To make sure we know which of our interventions has been successful, we will measure the following:

1. Number of active coaches in the network
2. Case studies of outcomes and learning from project work
3. Number of improvement projects on QI Life
4. Number of publications/ posters/ conference talks our coaches take part in
5. Number of randomised coffee trails
6. Attendees at network events
7. Participants in  study visits, learning events
8. Applicants and participants (internal and external inc. patients) attending Coaching and Leading Programme
9. Number of coaches who go on to take part in roles that include improvement activity

During the Coaching and Leading for Improvement programme, coaches hear from patients who have worked with us to develop new service models and improve current pathways. This provides a personal and qualitative perspective of the pathway from beginning end with the added benefit of an emotional map.  This in turn enhances learning, provides tools and techniques to co-design with patients and demonstrate that they are dedicated to working with patients as partners through their improvement activities.

We propose to harness their collective energy for change by connecting our coaches to:

• patients and citizens
• each other
• other members of the Q community

Through connecting around shared interests and priorities, we hope to promote a culture of building co-designed improvements into every day work, exchange learning, provide peer support and inspire each other to do more around improvement activities.  Through our links with our Strategic Lay Council we would also look to promote partnerships for our improvement work.