What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to the theme of 'How can we improve across system boundaries?​

Improvement Learning, South Yorkshire (ILSY) addresses the challenge of finite resource dedicated to embedding and spreading Improvement training across our organisations.  We have come together as learning organisations to develop a consistent suite of Improvement Learning tools and syllabus across South Yorkshire (and beyond).  This will enable us to maximise the spread and impact of improvement activity by allowing us to share learning materials; development programmes and strengthen our small group of Improvement learning facilitators across the ICS.  This is helping us to deepen relationships, understanding and trust across our system, particularly in our improvement teams.  We recognise the importance of working collaboratively across our system boundaries.  Many, if not all, of our greatest challenges lie across system boundaries and it is by taking a systems-thinking, improvement approach that we will be able to work collaboratively using improvement methodologies to find solutions to our most wicked problems.

What does your project aim to achieve?

ILSY will develop a consistent suite of improvement learning tools for classroom delivery.  To increase accessibility, impact and spread of improvement learning tools, ILSY will create an online hub of tools, practical examples and support for improvement projects from across our system into a single platform.  This will support all colleagues to explore QI at an introductory level and be a signpost for experienced QI colleagues who want to access more material.

The Hub will provide tools at each stage of the process and examples (including where things didn’t work) to demonstrate the benefits improvement can bring. Investing in an accessible Hub for all healthcare staff in South Yorkshire will encourage improvement from all levels, not just senior staff, and by supporting staff working closest with healthcare issues we will see improvements to our services including a reduction in inequalities by increasing QI knowledge across a wider range of staff.

How will the project be delivered?

QI leads across South Yorkshire ICS have developed an improvement roadmap for the structure of our Improvement Learning tools which will form the basis of our training packages and our web-based platform accessible to staff of all levels.  The project will be delivered by investing in additional resource to support the QI leads to collate and review the available material from across the existing organisations and to generate new content to be uploaded onto a web-based platform which will then be made accessible to all staff.  The Hub will host relevant tools, tips and techniques as well as examples of QI activity from all the involved organisations that represent the diverse population of the region. We will work with services in South Yorkshire to understand the needs of our target group, using feedback to inform the Hub’s content.

How is your project going to share learning?

Being an online tool, the Hub will be an accessible resource to share learning across South Yorkshire. Including information on the Hub about how to share teams’ QI work nationally will benefit the wider system.  We intend for this to be an open access platform that anyone can use and access.

This will form the digital backbone of a community of practice that we are beginning to develop across our organisations and gives us an opportunity to connect people working on similar areas and to share lessons learnt.