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Hexitime the Healthcare Skill Exchange Time Bank

A platform for Q members to post their need for QI support or look for QI work opportunities. Q members then complete the work and Bank that time to claim resources back from the community.

Read comments 78 Project updates 2
  • Winning idea
  • 2018

Meet the team: Time Bank and Skills Exchange

Also:

  • Alastair Williamson
  • Bobbie Petford
  • Kuldeep Singh
  • Karen Ritchie

Next Steps

We’re delighted to have been shortlisted and to be in the final 25, but we’re not resting on our laurels. We want to be in the best position to pitch to you at the Q Community event in September and this idea to be a success. Our vision is that this idea is eventually owned by, and adds value to the Improvement Community.

With an eye to QI methodology, we have therefore established our aims (see attached logic model) and designed tests of change, in collaboration with our supporters and partner Timebank UK. We now invite you, as early adopters to test out the model.

Beta Testing

  1. Click here to register an account on our platform: www.hexitime.com  
  2. Watch this video on how in works
  • We want feedback on the functionality of the site, what works and what doesn’t. We want your improvement ideas and we want to know the areas we should focus on for development.

 

Please also help us to increase the amount of user feedback we receive by sending this brief to any Q members you know who may be interested.

At our first project meeting , we agreed our first step is to test a rudimentary platform as a project team. We’ll  run “virtual exchanges to establish “must haves” for this to work and for rigorous evaluation- PDSA 1!

We also learnt that since a national agreement in 2015, all NHS Employees can have 3 paid day per year to volunteer!

Q members are asking for ways in which they can contribute to the network and add value to themselves, their organisations and their community.

Some want to see improvement work in other organisations first hand and learn by doing, understanding and connecting. When they have spare time through the fluxes of a salaried role, they are seeking a process to support other teams whilst challenging themselves.

Others have ad hoc demand for skills which are uniquely available in the Q network. They are seeking a way of sourcing those, skills, energy and expertise and using it to ignite programmes in their own organisations. Thie Q Community Time Bank is a cheap and elegant solution to help address both of these areas within Q. It is an idea in which the sum exceeds the parts and hence grows the community in a practical way.

The Time Bank idea was first proposed at the 2017 annual Q event in Liverpool and followed up with learning from time banks in public services which have united disenfranchised communities. We have then seen success in small scale pilots across the Q Community that have left members inspired, better resourced and equipped with new ideas. These have subsequently contributed to successful bids for funding for further programmes.

We believe this is an idea whose time has come.

It is needed by the community and can work at organisational, regional or national levels. It costs very little whilst giving a currency for skills underlined by the simple premise of  reciprocity, or “Give an hour, Get  one back.”

What might this look like in practice?

Example A – ‘straight swap’

An AHSN requires a senior guest speaker to be keynote at a collaborative event. Provider ‘A’ sends an executive. Months later provider ‘A’ needs an advisor to review their improvement strategy and the AHSN fulfills their obligation.

Example B – ‘forward it on’

Member ‘A’ needs a facilitator to coach a clinical team for 5 days in a rapid improvement event. Member ‘B’ offers a coach and covers the work. Months later member ‘B’ requests a patient leader to contribute to some improvement workshops with staff, but member A does not have the required resource. Member ‘C’ steps in and offers a skilled patient leader to provider ‘B’.

Principles

Q Community Time Bank is based on 7 universal principles.

  1. Money is not exchanged
  2. Exchanges are for improvement work
  3. Exchanges are equitable, not made on the basis of somebody’s ‘worth’. Ie member ‘A’s time is not necessarily worth more than member ‘B’s.
  4. Support is exchanged around a system
  5. Time is banked against an organisation, not an individual
  6. The exchange belongs to the community, not the product or tool of an organisation
  7. Community members want to do good improvement work, not drain a free resource.

Healthcare Benefits

This Q Community Time Bank will benefit the system by

  • Offering a free alternative to expensive day-rate improvement resource, by connecting the demands and capacity of our members
  • Also allowing patient representatives to find opportunities to join in improvement work
  • Giving our members rewarding opportunities to share their skills, develop themselves and widen their network (our market research on time banks shows this to be a major benefit)
  • Being available to all members, regardless of profession or background or pay grade.
  • Being a self-sustaining platform – steered by the community and increasing our connectivity
  • Providing practical opportunities to share learning and skills across traditional boundaries, ie primary, secondary, provider, regulator, commissioner, etc
  • To steer the healthcare community towards collaboration

The platform will be designed to have the functionality to measure time being banked between members and the quantity of improvement projects being created

Benefits for the Q community

Giving time to and connect people within a community has a remarkable effect in improving well-being, preventing burnout and building community cohesion as described in this TEDx. It is an asset-based enterprise and works through several of the “5 ways to well-being”:

The Q Community Time Bank will immediately give Q members and their host organisations a free platform to interact and exchange their time around improvement, for both their professional development and to help improvement projects. Our exchanges could include:

  • Mentoring and coaching
  • Delivering presentations
  • QI/ Patient Safety advice
  • Data analysis and evaluation
  • Workshop facilitation
  • Sharing resources such as rooms
  • Unused conference/workshop places
  • Peer review
  • Support pathway development
  • Diversity of perspectives (eg. from service users)

The time banked will “belong” to the Q Member but if you wish, you can pass this on to your organisation, which can therefore withdraw against it.

Measures

Process measures will be directly collected from the Time bank software and include numbers of:

  • individuals who pledge to contribute to the Time Bank,
  • requests for support posted
  • hours banked

In addition, qualitative assessments of ease of use of the programme will be collected prospectively over the course of the year to inform the service design and thereby allow improvements in the design.

Outcome measure will be determined through engagement with the various stakeholders, including the Health Foundation,  Q Time Bankers and their host organisations to establish a measure of SROI. Through details of participants job roles, it will also be possible to calculate the value of Time Bankers’ time had they been employed to do the work and hence determine the wealth generated.

  • Cumulative monetary equivalence of time exchanged
  • Social Return on Investment (SROI)

In addition, qualitative understanding of learning, connectivity to the Q Community and sense of self-worth will be collected through individual narratives over the course of the year.

How you can contribute

  • Join the bank, give an hour and get one back over the summer
  • Help evaluate your experience and outcomes to rapidly adapt the process using QI principles
  • Meet (and celebrate?!) at the 20th anniversary Timebanking conference in September 5th/6th: https://www.timebanking.org/2018-conference/

Further information

Time banking logic model (PDF, 135KB)

Reviewer feedback

This is a great project because…

It's clearly attracted a lot of interest from members of the Q community. The ability to put a bit of structure around the process of peer exchange could potentially help enhance what can be achieved through Q.

By the time of the event we encourage the project team to think more about…

The practicalities and governance issues associated with making this work and how this would interface with the Q infrastructure. How could an initial pilot help us learn more about likely uptake and the implications for employing organisations?

 

Project updates

  • 18 Jun 2023

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  • 3 Jun 2023

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Comments

  1. Not having contributed to the original proposal and time committed to Time Bank Skills Exchange, the team and its participants are to be congratulated and I echo Simon’s comment: “It is an excellent example of user-led design with a clear focus on outcome and a logical progression from "concept" through "co-development" to "test prototype".

    To ensure the spread of this project with its endless potential to improve healthcare by the mutual exchange of time, as well as building on the Made Open Platform, ’The time is now’ to ensure we support to the Project Team, and Simon, who has offered to evaluate this project, with its endless potential to improve healthcare by mutual time exchange.

    Another useful process measurement tool is Tim Benson’s R-Outcomes family of short generic staff and patient related reported measure of outcomes, engagement and experience.

    https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A7669113f-200d-41f8-ace8-f0ffa65cc4c6

    https://r-outcomes.com

    I’ve put my Request for support for Q Timebank: Alt 24/7 project on hold to try to explore the strength of local NHS staff commitment to the concept of donating their 3-day NHS allocation of hours to voluntary work i.e. Timebank participation, and to assess patient participation interest in a free health improvement initiative.

  2. Hi Hesham, good to hear that you are exploring options for the next phase and I know just how much time this can consume. A wise entrepreneur friend of told me a long time ago "you have to kiss a lot of frogs" and he was right.  One risk of getting too distracted with the next round of investment is that the prototype does not get finished off, and the inevitable "niggles" start to erode the patience of the early adopters who have helped you get this far. We could ask the Hexitime users to do a quick 4N Chart feedback and use that to focus the niggle-nailing to best effect. I offered to share the 4N Chart tool as an Hexitime offer ... so maybe we can walk our own talk here? Simon     

    1. Good counsel, Simon. I'll take up your generous 4Ns Hexitime offer and let's think through how best to get feedback from our virtual community of early adopters.

  3. This was the 2018 project that captured my attention.  It is an excellent example of user-led design with a clear focus on outcome and a logical progression from "concept" through "co-development" to "test prototype".  I have used the online system and it works well enough, and could be improved.  The bigger challenge is yet to come though (a) verification: evaluating the prototype software and feeding back into the software development process and (b) validation: evaluating the measured outcomes and comparing with the design purpose. This second phase of the product development life-cycle usually requires more resources than the working prototype phase and my concern is that this excellent idea may shrivel on the vine for lack of "water, sunshine and fertiliser".

    1. Hi Simon,

      We're delighted to have delighted you 😊

      The idea has captured imaginations and membership has grown far faster than we had expected or hoped, so we're learning quickly about how to go from proof of concept to a universal resource.

      Our developer, Made Open is a relative small organisation, who share our values but have limited capacity for scale. So resources for improvement, growth and sustainability are an issue, as you predict. We are therefore exploring funding models, with the key principle that Hexitime remains free at the point of access, facilitating free flow of skills and knowledge to where they are needed. These include

      -Partnership. Organisations partnering with Hexitime would have a check box, allowing Hexitimers from within the organisation or Integrated Care System to easily find one another and exchange. Initial conversations have started on this with a handful of trusts.

      -Incubator funding. We've been shortlisted for the and Meridian Innovation Award, which may offer that opportunity. I am actively searching for others but each application takes energy.

      -Features. Added functions including a Campaigns function could be purchased separately, meaning our core offer remains free. This may be of interest to national or regional bodies wanting to engage staff in innovative and participative ways.

      We would be grateful for any additions to these or contacts that you and other supporters can offer. You're right, it would be a shame to have such a promising idea that could democratise Healthcare expertise and experience die.

  4. I hope the post I have just finished managed to get posted Hesham. I wonder if I may have been logged out with writing it over a prolonged period of time.

  5. Thanks Hesham and I am pleased the Hexitime launch went so well.

    There's no structure to my thoughts Hesham but I wanted to share them in the context of today's launch for future discussion.

    Reflecting on your comment, on ways to engage patients and "experts by experience" on an equal footing in this system. One thought related to the mutual experience of identifying and validating individual healthcare improvement goals.

    For example, An IHI Open School Discussion group on the Healthcare Triple Aim course poses a question for learners, "List one personal thing you would like to improve." On reading individual emails, it is surprising how many similarities the goals professionals cite for self improvement equate with the self-management goals of patients with LTCs (from my own patient experience of participating in, and developing a self-management course).

    The other observation to engage patients and "experts by experience" on an equal footing in this system is demonstrated by the complexity of some answers offered for personal goal setting when the question asks for one thing to improve.

    Another one, if some healthcare and public sector workers opted to contribute 24 Timebank hours over a 7 month period based on their 3 days' paid leave volunteering (CPD?) and peer responders volunteered an equal number of hours in any 1 year period (Certificated?) an alt: 24/7 Timebank could support psychological wellbeing!

    I attended an excellent IBS Patient Webinar, NHS digital and NHS Somerset Partnership, and developing joint webinars for different conditions could be another way to engage patients and "experts by experience" on an equal footing in this system.....

    1. Hi Carl. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I agree there is an overlap between the psychological well-being felt by professionals and patients giving to improve the service that they received or deliver. Leveraging that NHS Employers guidance with that "24/7" catchphrase would be great.

      At the launch, we discussed with Carol Hunt an approach that would bring an offer onto the Timebank that would allow patients to share their expertise. Perhaps you could contact her directly via Twitter and we can then set up a Zoom conference call to co-produce the next steps?

  6. I am disappointed I will miss Q Timebank launch tomorrow. I wish you all the very best:
    "We believe this is an idea whose time has come."

    1. Thanks Chris. I'll  post an update on how it went and you can follow it today on Twitter @hexitime. I will be fascinated in your thoughts on how to better engage patients and "experts by experience" on an equal footing in this system.

  7. Hi All, Updated platform details are: 

    https://healthcareskillexchange.com/   

     

    If you are interested in coming along to the launch at the Health Foundation on 4th April (1pm-4pm) and influencing the progress of the platform, then sign up here:

     

    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-of-the-q-community-healthcare-skills-exchange-tickets-57546738845

  8. Hi All,

    It seems a long time since last Autumn's conference when we were given the honour and responsibility of turning the Q Community votes into a reality.

    We have now received the funding for the Q Community Timebank and have been working hard with developers to build the platform with a planned launch in April. It will be a way of multiplying our impact and accelerating learning through facilitating quality improvement skills exchanges. It is powered by a simple principle: “Give an hour, get one back.”

     

    If you want a sneak peek, beta test the platform or be involved in the evaluation of its impact, then join us for a face to face workshop in Walsall or a lunchtime Zoom webinar on 18th January.

    I would be particularly interested in your thoughts on how the Timebank could augment the projects you are working on.

    The Workshop registration (18th January 1000-1600) is: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/q-community-skills-exchange-tickets-47489998865
    The Zoom Webinar link (18th January 1300 to 1400) is: https://zoom.us/j/2994423117

    And the link to the test platform is here: http://q.madeopen.co.uk/

    1. Hi All,

      Updated platform details are:  https://healthcareskillexchange.com/

       

      If you are interested in coming along to the launch at the Health Foundation on 4th April (1pm-4pm) and influencing the progress of the platform, then sign up here:

      https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-of-the-q-community-healthcare-skills-exchange-tickets-57546738845

  9. I've had a dabble on your Beta site. I think a flow chart would be useful for users just to show how time banking works - from both directions. I can create the flow charts if you provide the information. Regards Tom

    1. Thanks - I think I've just emailed your Birmingham account with a proposed process diagram. Let me know if that's the sort of thing you had in mind

      John

  10. Really excited to see this being shortlisted - hope to connect with you on the 19th September and thinking already about how I might be able to play in in some small way!

  11. This idea clearly has value for all in the Q community. Looking at your 'Example A' - we have a AHSN Regional ED Collaborative event coming up in September. Any chance of test driving?

    1. Guest

      John Lodge 17 Aug 2018

      I'll email you a signup link now Deon. Do have a play and let us know how you get on!

  12. This is a great, and needed, idea. Full support from me.

    1. Thanks, Caroline. I look forward to including you amongst the early adopters testing the model.

  13. This is a great idea that has the potential to tap into the huge and varied expertise and experience across the QI community.

    To measure benefit at the short and medium term, you might want to consider the outcomes and measurement approaches defined in community capacity-building initiatives. Although not directly transferable, outcomes such as: increasing awareness and understanding of capacity; improved understanding of gaps in capacity; identification of approaches to develop capacity, etc. could be refined into appropriate outcomes for this idea and then measured. Have a look at https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/measuring-community-capacity-building/ for example.

    1. Thank you for signposting these to us, Karen. Those 8 outcomes described in the workbook offer a comprehensive framework that we can adapt for our own virtual community.

  14. What about measures of social capital - for individuals and for the timebank group? Structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital might all be relevant to the timebank. Just a thought - might not be what you're after!!

    https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/measure-social-capital/

     

    1. Yes! Some sort of Social Return on Investment was just what I had in mind.

  15. We're submitting on Wednesday and need advice on evaluation. How do we best determine Social Return on Investment?

    Any last minute ideas gratefully received. If we win and you want to contribute to the ongoing evaluation, you could claim your time back from the bank :-)

  16. Great idea.. we've been trying to do something like this in Wessex but hasn't quite come off as no formal mechanism. This would help enormously

    Sarah

    1. It would be great to hear what you've been trying jn Wessex and include you in co-designing this solution, Sarah.

  17. Thank you Rosie!

  18. Thank you for sharing your experience and posing those constructive questions, Georgina. I am hoping that the supporters and commentators on this page will be a willing group to test and develop the model over the Summer  and the size of the Q Community will be the Minimum Viable Product to make this a success.

    The risk of the Bank metaphor is that it becomes too transactional, when in reality this is "funny money" which embodies the (almost) limitless strengths and motivation of our community.

    My interest in Time Banking was piqued last December, when as lead of our trust Quality Improvement Academy I was addressing a scathing CQC report about our maternity services, which tipped us into special measures. I invited Kim, an obstetrician with an interest in Human Factors with an international reputation to co-deliver a workshop. He spoke from experience and with credibility about how flattening heierarchies, situational awareness and escalation protocols impacted on staff morale and patient safety. We ran practical skills drills which reinforced this and inspired participants to learn more.

     

    This has set up a cascade of interest and activity that culminated in a local faculty  delivering a successful "Dragon's Den" bid and a series of training days that have raised the morale and culture in the department in a way unimaginable 6 months ago.

     

    It's shown me how bringing in the right QI people at the right time can catalyse change and how pro bono work can be uplifting. I certainly feel indebted and feel a need to "give back".

  19. Hi John and Hesham, I’m Georgie, Partnerships Manager for the Q community. Great to see this idea and all the related comments from members, clearly lots of energy! There is real potential to make use of the talent in the system here and utilise the skills of the community. A few things that pop to mind for me:

    How do you envisage this linking to the existing Q infrastructure?  What opportunities might there be?

    How do you think the time will be used?  I’d be really interested to hear about the pilots you have already completed and any learning/good stories from that.

    Building on Richard Byng’s great comment about flexibility, fluidity and the hope for jointly owned projects, the idea of people exchanging time on a voluntary basis is inspiring. What risks might there be in relying on volunteerism and exchange?  The Q team explored a similar concept to this during the Q design phase but found some challenges with workability and uptake. It led the team to look at the somewhat broader concept of an ‘opportunities board’, where people could share both paid and unpaid roles and requests for input. Perhaps something like this would have more traffic overall, which would help to make the time banking option more viable within that.

    While the Q team struggled to find a workable model and prioritise the idea of a ‘swop shop’ in the design phase, we now have a much larger community, more connections and opportunities for sharing and this could be a positive addition.

    Good luck with developing the final proposal!

    1. Guest

      Sarah Bird 23 May 2018

      Hi Georgina

      You make some really important points here and we have tried very hard to make the software and app as flexible as possible.  For example, we have one time bank that operates on a national basis, but quite different exchanges are taking place than the community run time banks.  In this instance we have been able to ensure it is a 'stand alone' time bank involving the people/staff/volunteers connected to their organisation.  We know how government and HMRC view bartering schemes and the swapping of professional time, so all of this is incorporated into our set up processes with new time banks.  The questions for us are:  who are the people involved?  what kinds of skills and knowledge is to be exchanged?  is there a need for searching by skill AND location?  is anyone vulnerable?  would feedback from members be useful?

      We have solutions to all of these questions, and will welcome the next stage of discussions.  Sarah Bird, CEO Timebanking UK sarah@timebanking.org

  20. Hi all

    I have reached out to Timebanking UK and am awaiting their response.

    What are the next steps?

    How can we compare the popularity of this idea with others we are competing with? Is there a ranking system? Any suggestions how we can increase support (or other key metrics?), beyond sharing with networks?

    Can anyone vote, or only Q community members?

    Let me know if I can do anything (easier after my appraisal on Thur 24!)

    1.  

      ·         It’s now up to the collective power of the community to turn these ideas into a reality. Offer your help, advice and expertise to the projects so they can strengthen and refine the ideas. Idea pages can be edited until the deadline of 20 June.

      ·         All uploaded projects will need to complete a short supplementary application form which must be submitted 28 May – 20 June.

      ·         Up to 25 ideas will be shortlisted to pitch at the live voting event in September at the UK-wide Q Community Event. Only Q members at the event can vote for their top ideas.

       

      Event details can be found here: https://q.health.org.uk/event/q-uk-wide-community-event/

       

      Find out more about the Q Exchange process on the ‘How it works’ page on the website: https://q.health.org.uk/get-involved/q-exchange/how-it-works/

  21. Hi Helen - your concordat about releasing staff for QI work could certainly be a real catalyst to this Q Community Time Bank, especially if it spreads beyond SW.

    1. Hi all

      The concordat has had a positive response from our STP OD lead, I am now taking it to our clinical cabinet ( senior clinical staff across our STP) for further discussion. Issues raised so far seem to centre around people feeling they might loose expertise, so will be having that discussion with them. It may well be helpful to discuss the concept of time banking within this forum, which has quite a lot more structure than our own plans.

    2. Hi Matthew

      The SW Commons Steering Group are certainly positive about the concordate principle and we hope it will get support through the STPs as well as each organisation,  I know Helen is working hard on this and we will keep you informed as we go. We are also hoping that this will link nicely to this idea of a time bank.

  22. Hi

    Great to read about your project, I think that we can learn from you as we are trying to achieve something similar in the SW. We have been looking at things slightly differently in the SW. We are looking to get across STP agreement that Staff can be released for up to 5 days to support QI going on in another service. This could be anywhere across the health or social care sector.

    We have been developing a concordat to support this.

    very happy to share if this would be of any use,

    Kind regards

    helen

    1. Hi Helen, we'd certainly be interested in learning together on this and your concordat sounds like an innovative way of adding organisational responsibility to individual commitment. I could even see it being adapted to within organisations were Divisional Leads take their title too literally, to develop an internal market for QI. Please do email me a copy and we can carryon the conversation.

      Hesham.abdallax@gmail.com

  23. Great to see so much interest.

    When involved in starting up the Rushey Green Time Bank we were impressed by how many people wanted to offer their time as a gift - how giving time was often more important than receiving.

    Flexibility and fluidity were key and I am fascinated to see how the time bank concept will work in the 'improvement' world. I am hopeful we will get people looking for projects to contribute to, as well as those developing projects in their organisation looking out for individuals who have time and energy to contribute.

    I think we will see projects becoming jointly 'owned', with those contributing taking the ideas back to their organisations and communities, and recipients benefiting further by seeing good ideas spread and gaining kudos for innovation. All this generating a renewed collaborative inter-organisational culture we are now seeing again in the NHS.

  24. Guest

    Josh Sleeman 14 May 2018

    Seems like a logical idea that just needs the right people to back it.

  25. Guest

    Adam Dawson 14 May 2018

    Thisnprojevt really looks like it could be of great benefit to teams and individuals. I can’t wait to see how it progresses.

  26. Guest

    John r 14 May 2018

    This looks like a fantastic idea. I look forward to hearing more

  27. Re adding in a QI mentoring/coaching element: my Q team colleague Natalie helped set up a health time-bank that had a novel mentoring element. Might be worth talking with her...

  28. Hesham, totally believe in the time banking model.  Could we add in development and support for healthcare innovators.  I have recently presented my research on this subject at Stanford MedX where there were clinicians, patients, designers, carers and volunteers all part of the conference in their own right #everyoneincluded.  I think the bank could offer this same support and approach from the Q community, happy to lead on this element and share my research for the bid.

    1. An interesting idea Carol. We’re taking all ideas into consideration at this stage not just for our final bid, but for further potential phases of the project. Let's follow this up if we're successful.

  29. Fantastic idea! Could you add QI mentoring/coaching onto the time bank?

    1. Great idea, Anne. I can see how that could multiply the value of the time invested.

      Inviting a QI expert to deliver a workshop to my team (in effect, a group coaching session), led to a huge boost to the department and a cascade of events including the development of our own local faculty and successful funding bid.

      If this proposal is succesful and you would be interested in being involved, then do click the blue support button above.

  30. Guest

    Silvia Lombardo 12 May 2018

    This is a great idea that will support the community to work closer together for genuine improvement!

  31. Hi Sebastian - it's fascinating to think of the future potential to run this across an STP, to include other improvement-related networks such as Fab (Ambassadors). Perhaps Academic Health Science Networks, NHS Improvement teams, NHS Change Day Hubbies etc.

    But two questions spring to mind: 1) does adding other networks of improvers increase the likelihood of success, or decrease it?
    2) What are the key factors that have generally been found to predict the success - or failure - of timebanks? Any research you can point us towards?

     

     

    1. Guest

      Sarah Bird 23 May 2018

      Hi Matthew

      We have a huge amount of experience on what works and what does not work so well with regards to community run and led time banks.  Sustainability will always be a key issue for time banks as most often they want to ensure the safeguarding element, but to make the time exchanges as quick and easy for everyone.  Email me on sarah@timebanking.org or call our team on 01453 750952.  We will be pleased to help.

       

    2. Hi

      The best person to ask is Paul Weaver,  an academic studying social innovation and a trustee of TBUK

      As with all improvement,  start small with those who share commitment and use PDSA cycles.

      A critical mass of people is important , especially with enough offering and receiving,  so avoiding everyone asking for help from a handful of people

       

      What do you think ?

       

  32. Hi!

    A great project! Timebanking is a valuable contribution to asset-based community development and has traditionally helped many who are older, those with special needs or on the fringes of society. It would be great to co-create a virtual time bank and use improvement methodology to help it develop and become sustainable!

    best wishes

    Sebastian

    Trustee, Timebanking UK

    1. It might be easier to share within the Q Community, than across an STP, but worth testing.

      TBUK has developed software in the last year for administering exchanges. I would not recommend spending money on a new, competing, standalone solution.

      The Fab Ambassadors were interested in this when I mentioned it last year

      I'll spread the word!

  33. Great idea. Benefits all round. Opportunities to give also  good for expanding skills/experience/ showing what you are capable of.

    1. Good point Clare, which I have added to our narrative. Even those banking their time will benefit through expanding their own network and improving their own skills. In this way, this could end up being greater than the sum of its parts.

      If you would be interested in trialling this in Southampton too, please do click "Support".

  34. Guest

    Carol Read 8 May 2018

    Great idea - which I support wholeheartedly.  I think we should look at a timebank approach across Q

    1. Thanks for your support. A national approach would really maximise the opportunity for cross-fertilisation of ideas. From experience, sometimes it can just take someone to question "Why do you do it like that?" to get people thinking differently.

      Do click, "Support", Carol to help bring it to the September event to pitch.

  35. Be good to have AHSN's nationally supporting this idea

    1. Great idea, Caroline. Speaking to Susan Fairlie at the Q Visit last week, we saw the potential of Timebanking at STP level as we usher in an era of collaboration. Facilitating professionals in a geographical area crossing the old organisational boundaries in this reciprocal way could be a means of building trust and sharing experience and skills, for the benefit of the local population.

      If the Timebank is taken up, I predict that we'll learn a lot from the experience in the Q Community over the year. This should be popular amongst Q members, as we already have validated skills, a sense of camaraderie and an appetite for change.

      How that translates when these aren't present and organisational allegiances act as a disincentive for exchange will be a good challenge. Will host community members recognise that they have more in common than that which divides them? Will the delight of giving and being appreciated for it outweigh our natural conservatism? Let's find out!

      Please do send me your suggested contact details and I'll update the bid.
       

  36. Guest

    Caroline Maries-Tillott 7 May 2018

    This is a great idea and one which I would be keen to support - I agree with Tom - the beauty of it is the equity value of  peoples time. I think this already happens informally between individuals  but it would be great to grow the concept and have a professional platform for it

  37. This is a great idea, be really great to get this up and running....

    1. Thankyou - we already have a host of people who want to sign up to it and start making connections already!

  38. Hi, thank you for placing this up it is a great idea and I will happily support it. You ask us to support and challange and so here is the challenge bit, it your bid you state "Thie Q Community Time Bank is a cheap and elegant solution to help address both of these areas within Q" however your bid request appears to be at the top of theh financial ammount available, have you actually worked this up or is the financial figure a stab in the dark as I would think both the idea and running of it would be almost cost neutral if it was run on the Q community platform.

    Good luck and I hope to see you at the national event.

    1. Thank you for the responces and I also notice that you are using the feedback to alter your bid which is I am told what this part of the process is about so well done and I have placed my support for you on the page now.

      You asked about time banking in the Southwest and we have approached it slightly differently but with the same outcome hopefully. We are writing a compact and asking the local trusts to agree to giving every Q member 5 days of transferable days inorder to help the whole SW area capacity. The idea is starting to take traction and I will keep you informed as we go.

      I hope your idea takes root and I look forward to seeing you present in September.

    2. The initial platform development shouldn't cost more than about 3k (we have quotes). Then we need a little room to iterate and refine over the following 12-18months or so based on user feedback. This will require a little funding, say a couple of £k. I would just like to make it clear at this stage that any unused money would get refunded to HF rather than frivolously spent before year end !!!!

    3. Good challenge, Jonathan.

      John Lodge initially pitched this idea to integrate into the Q platform, which would have been the most seamless solution for end-users. That was not successful unfortunately, so he sought other options and found that building a bespoke platform would be £10,000.

      On Tom Rose's recommendation, I am now liaising with Timebank.uk about an "out of the box" solution, which could substantially reduce this.

      Experience from Timebanks elsewhere is that there is significant amount of administrative and project support needed at the set up stage. I've approximated those costs.

      If we have another Q members indicating their support now, by September we should have run some small PDSA tests and have clearer figures.

  39. Guest

    Chris Collison 3 May 2018

    Looks great Hesham - and I think I might just have an Exchange Idea to complement it perfectly!

  40. Guest

    Tom Johnson 3 May 2018

    Love this idea. What really resonates with me is the equal value of peoples time. Why should my time be worth more or less than anyone else's?Also the possibility of bringing in specialist resources without the need for long contracts. The professionals within the Q community would be the ideal place to test and grow this idea. Good luck. 

  41. Thanks for the fabulous Time banking links and connections, Matthew.

    I'll DM you for Natalie's and the South West Q contact details. It makes sense to collaborate on this and build on their experience.

  42. Great to see this idea that was proposed at various points during the last national Q event reach the stage of being a Q Exchange proposal.

    You say it's an idea 'whose time has come'. It's certainly interesting to see the same idea pop up from Hesham in the Q West Midlands and John in London - and I just learned too that the South West Q Commons Steering Group is also looking into some way for employers to ‘release’ Q members to a neighbouring trust in exchange for another Q member, with different skills.

    Sounds like the ‘Q Community Time Bank’ to me!

    Do speak with them, as you hone your proposal.

    I also learned yesterday that a Q team colleague, Natalie, has herself run a health Time Bank (with a novel mentoring element), and she also knows the CEO of Time Bank UK, Sarah Bird: http://www.timebanking.org/about-tbuk/2345-2/

    I’m sure she can connect you with Sarah. Time Banking UK may have some great advice for you.

    Their publications page includes ‘NHS Guide: Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in NHS Providers – a practical guide’: http://www.timebanking.org/about-tbuk/publications/

    All kinds of advice, tools and guidance on their site, in fact: http://www.timebanking.org/what-is-timebanking/research/

    It’s great that Richard’s experience with the Rushey Green Time Bank (Lewisham) has fed in to your proposal.

  43. Great point, Tom and good to see the idea is spreading!

    I'd love to hear more about your experience in the Malverns and if you would like to get involved. Shall we meet in Birmingham?

     

     

    1. Guest

      Sarah Bird 23 May 2018

      We at Timebanking UK would be happy to be involved in this and would love to share the findings and learnings from the past 20 years of timebanking in this country.  Case studies, social return of investment and impact reports have been given by our member time banks across the UK.  We have brand new interactive software making it the easiest yet for local people to get involved exchanging time, skills and knowledge.  If you want to take a look, the demo site is here on https://tol2.timebanking.org/    If you want to contact me direct, you can email me on sarah@timebanking.org - I am the CEO and would welcome a meeting.

    2. Hesham, I'm happy to meet in Birmingham but I'm not sure if I can be of any help. I don't have any experience of time banking I just know of the existence of the group in Malvern. Regards Tom

  44. Have you had a look at timebancking.org We even have a timebank in Malvern! Regards Tom

    http://www.timebanking.org/location/onside/

    1. Guest

      Sarah Bird 21 May 2018

      Thanks for thinking of us Thomas!  We are here to assist anyone setting up new time banks, virtual or otherwise.

       

  45. Good plan. Are there off the shelf software applications available that you have looked at? We even have a Time Bank in little old Malvern! Regards Tom

  46. Guest

    Esther Waterhouse 2 May 2018

    This looks like a really sensible way to harness ideas, expertise and enthusiasm for the benefit of all. I particularly like the opportunity for patient representatives to be involved.

  47. Guest

    Bobbie Petford 2 May 2018

    Looks like a great idea to me. It's a win-win.

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