CEO Blog - June 2015

The Q initiative

Wessex AHSN has been working to help recruit the inaugural participants of a ground-breaking new initiative to improve the quality of care for patients in the NHS throughout the UK.The Q initiative, run by independent health care charity the Health Foundation together with NHS England, will connect people dedicated to improving the quality of care across the UK.

The initiative will make it easier for people from all parts of the health system with expertise in quality improvement to share ideas, enhance their skills and introduce changes to make care better for patients. There are 231 people in the founding cohort of Q – from front-line clinicians, managers and researchers to policy makers and patient leaders.

We at Wessex AHSN have put forward 10 participants who will help design, refine and test Q during 2015. The initiative will then launch more widely in 2016, with an aim to recruit 5,000 participants by 2020.

Penny Pereira, Assistant Director of Strategy at the Health Foundation, said: “We want to ensure the design of Q meets the needs of those working to improve care in the NHS. The overall ambition is to make sure organisations are easily able to tap into the best ideas from across the UK and beyond.

Dr Mike Durkin, Director of Patient Safety at NHS England, said: “Q will boost the skills of its individual participants, but also encourage a nurturing of talent and sharing of innovation and passion that will be vital as we build the capacity and capability of quality and safety improvement science across the NHS.”

Congratulations to our 10 nominees and I look forward to the design process informing a wider recruitment campaign which will start in 2016. If you are interested in more information about Q please visit the Health Foundation website 

Martin Stephens

Chief Executive