Q Exchange
Developing the National QI Communications Network
- Proposal
- 2022
Meet the team
Also:
- National QI Comms Network (50 plus members from trusts all over the UK)
- Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Academy of Fab Stuff
- Dorset Healthcare University Trust
What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to the theme?
Our national QI Communications Network has met virtually, monthly, since October 2020 and brings together QI comms professionals from across the UK, with 50 plus members. It started with just three QI comms officers from Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, East London Foundation Trust and the Academy of Fab Stuff, who spread the word via Twitter.
Members would like to have regular expert speakers and online training sessions, to help with skills and knowledge gaps they have identified. These include building a QI culture, measuring the impact of QI comms, communicating QI to staff and service users and creating podcasts, video, animation and sketchnotes. This would help our members develop – which would ultimately result in better QI comms for colleagues, stakeholders, service users and the public.
Now, members share what they do at their trusts and we learn and get ideas from each other. Bespoke training would help us improve further.
What does your project aim to achieve?
We aim to increase the skill set, knowledge and expertise of members. We have a mix of dedicated QI comms officers and others who sit in QI teams and have been asked to work on QI comms. We support each other.
We would like to improve our skills in communicating the benefits of QI to staff, patients and service users. We would like to improve our storytelling skills and use of multi-media to let staff, stakeholders and patients know why we are doing improvement, how all can benefit and how we need all to be involved.
Funding would help us to communicate improvement better – whether this is by sharing a case study on a website or on social media, letting the public know how a service has improved via a media release, or improving the way we run a hybrid in person and virtual QI conference for our colleagues.
How will the project be delivered?
It would be delivered by the National QI Comms Network, which to date has predominantly been led by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, ELFT and Academy of Fab Stuff.
Members of the group have suggested the additional training and expertise they feel they need and what external speakers they would benefit from inviting along to monthly meetings. We aim for an event once a quarter. This is something the group first spoke about pre-pandemic. The idea has been resurrected recently.
As meetings are virtual, our members from trusts across the UK could take part. We aim to survey members beforehand about their skill sets and knowledge and again after a year, to measure improvement/confidence.
Members worked together to seek quotes for events and design a group logo. KCHFT would book the events. Our revolving chairs would send invites to members.
How is your project going to share learning?
Our group brings together QI Comms officers from across the UK. We have been astounded by how it has grown.
Initially, it was thought there were only perhaps around 3-5 of dedicated QI comms officers in the UK, but we soon found there were many more. We have new members keen to join us every month.
Our network is for great ideas to be shared and to learn from each other. One training session, or guest speaker event, could benefit trusts across the UK. We are linked with QI teams across the UK not only through our network, but also via the #QITwitter movement (led by Lou Waters, Q member).
We also support trusts who do not have a dedicated comms officer, or have small comms teams, with ideas, and expertise.
We believe we are unique in bringing so many NHS trusts together in this way.
How you can contribute
- Please support our idea by leaving a comment.
- We always welcome newcomers and we are keen to continue to grow our network.
- We learn and share together and are a unique collaboration.
- If you are interested, please join us. If you know of similar or other networks who it would be good for us to collaborate with, please let us know.
- We hope you can give your support to this application.
- We think it is a way of working which other teams, working in other areas, could replicate.
Plan timeline
| 24 Feb 2022 | National QI Communications Network |
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Comments
Andrea Gibbons 10 Mar 2022
I'm delighted to be able to support this initiative in some small way. I've been privileged to play a small role in mobilising this community of brilliant, talented and yet often overlooked communications professionals who support QI so fabulously. This has to be one of the first Q exchange applications that I've seen that doesn't ask for the maximum amount of budget also - showing how well thought through and focused it is. I would encourage everyone to support this idea! Good luck Jane and the team!
Samantha Richards 10 Mar 2022
This is a great idea to grow the network and skills within the Qi Comms profession/s. The network is a unique national collaborative space that is really energetic and friendly. With a focus on peer to peer support currently, securing training and sessions from expert speakers would allow members to further expand their knowledge in new and exciting areas as well as continue to share learning across organisations. Helping to lead to potential joint working and of course attracting talent and new members to the group.
Jane Barlow 10 Mar 2022
Thanks for your support Sam and for chairing our last meeting and doing such a fab job! Our network is a real collaboration, where we provide support for each other. It's great to have trusts across the UK all working together like this.
Some online training for our members and guest speakers would really help us to further develop our group, which would result in improved QI communications for our colleagues, our stakeholders and those who use our services.
Emma Brown 3 Mar 2022
Really love this idea! Comms in QI is so important and has a speciality of it own.
Jane Barlow 7 Mar 2022
Thank you Emma, we really appreciate your support.
Yes, the skills needed for a QI Comms Officer are quite specific. There's a lot of specific knowledge needed and much more concentration on measurement and data analysis than a comms officer would normally do.
Also, the role is so very wide - with officers needed writing, internal and external comms skills, audio, animation, video and website and digital skills, as well as events management (QI conferences).
Michelle Chunger 3 Mar 2022
This is a fab idea, the network is so beneficial to QI and Comms professionals and being national it is a great forum to share ideas, network and learn. I think the bid could help the network develop and empower its members to learn new skills which they can take back to their teams
Jane Barlow 3 Mar 2022
Thanks for your comments Michelle. It's great to have NHS comms and QI professionals on board from trusts from across the UK. A fab collaboration. Thankyou for your support for the bid.
Jo Scott 3 Mar 2022
Hi Jane, Andrea and Lisa
It sounds like a really useful network, with potential for growth. I wonder if any of you have connected with members of Q's Network Weaving online group? Members in that group may be useful to connect with, to share Network Weaving approaches that may enhance this work? https://q.health.org.uk/community/groups/network-weaving/
Members in the evaluation special interest group may also have relevant learning, or could benefit from shared learning from you, about working with QI evaluation specialists https://q.health.org.uk/community/groups/evaluation/
Best of luck with the idea!
Jo
Jane Barlow 3 Mar 2022
Hi Jo,
That's really helpful, thanks ever so much. We will take a look. Sounds like it could be a useful and helpful collaboration.
Lisa Bellamy 28 Feb 2022
This is a great idea! There is already so much learning, sharing, working across a bit number of NHS organisations, bringing together like-minded people to improve where we work and ultimately for the people in our organisations and who use our services.
Developing this further with support from experts would enhance what is already a brilliant resource!
Jane Barlow 2 Mar 2022
Great to have you as a member of this group Lisa and to meet with you each month to share ideas and learning.
It would be fab if we could take this idea forward and improve our QI comms for the benefit of staff and those who use the services of the many trusts involved in our network.
Comments are now closed for this post.