Putting patients at the heart of our improvement
Reporting back from our first patient safety collaborative.
Last month, the WeImprove collaborative that’s focused on patient safety truly came to life with a learning event in Stratford, east London.
Quality improvement teams from across the Trust came together to hone their skills, share insight, and hear, from colleagues on their own QI journey, about the benefits of putting patients at the heart of their projects.
The morning kicked off with an inspiring presentation from Ellen Sykes and Janice Roper, who both talked about what it means to be involved in true partnership working with those we care for.
They highlighted the importance of staff and patients working towards a common goal; what effective communication with patients looks like, and how to spot the many and different skills that each ‘partner’ in any project brings to the table.
For the remainder of the morning session we were joined by Kevin Rooney, professor of care improvement at the University of West Scotland, who talked through the PDSA cycle that is central to any QI project - even, as it turns out, building (after a lot of testing) the perfect paper aeroplane!
Soon, it was time to get stuck into QI work of our own, and to accelerate the progress that’s already been made since the patient safety collaborative was launched earlier this year.
Teams representing all of our sites presented their projects to colleagues in short ‘elevator style’ pitches and everyone in the room was encouraged to ‘steal’ an idea for their own.
In the afternoon, we heard from Professor Julian Redhead, medical director at Imperial College Hospital College, who talked us through his organisation’s improvement history.
He admitted it had not been an easy one - improvements take time and a lot of hard work, and there will always be bumps in the road, but that the benefits to staff and patients can be truly game-changing.
He described their improvement as a continuous process, with no opportunity to switch off or to believe the job is ever done.
At Imperial, their focus on safety has resulted in a decrease in the number of ‘never events’ taking place at the hospital, thanks, in part, to greater education and a workplace culture in which candour and self-reporting is key.
The day concluded with more project time and everyone who came along noted the energy and enthusiasm in the room during these sessions.
Our teams went away with lots of new ideas and a better understanding of how to facilitate patient engagement in the quality improvement process.
WeImprove is our approach to quality improvement. It provides a clear and methodical way to make improvements that really matter to you.