Posted on: 13 January 2025
January 2025
Welcome to the January 2025 edition of the Improvement Academy news. As we are now mid-way in the Academic Year of 2024-25, it’s a good opportunity to share the education, development and opportunities available to you as CNWL staff.
In this issue, you will find the following:
- Quality Improvement at the Heart of CNWL Clinical Strategy 2024-2027Celebrating Success – articles from around CNWL
- Dr Tami Kramer appointed as Clinical Lead for Quality Improvement at CNWL
- Presenting Flow Spreadathon Learning at the Royal College of Psychiatry
- Reducing medicines spend within the Health and Justice Directorate
- CAMHS Community Teams spread Happy Doc to reduce assessment times
- Expert by Experience updates: Forum and Newsletter
- Improvement Collaborative 24 – update and Learning Session 2
- Upcoming Training Opportunities - building your QI knowledge
- Useful links
Quality Improvement at the Heart of CNWL Clinical Strategy 2024-2027
We were excited to see the launch of the CNWL Clinical Strategy 2024-2027, a comprehensive plan designed to enhance our healthcare services and ensure we consistently deliver quality, safe, and compassionate care. This strategy outlines four main clinical priorities: reducing health inequalities, providing the right care in the right place, improving access to care, and delivering care with demonstrable value.
The strategy here, outlines how continuous improvement is at the heart of our clinical work.
Examples of great improvement work being carried out by teams across the trust are highlighted below:
Amazing Work at CNWL:
Our staff are already doing incredible work aligned with these priorities. For example, the Improvement Academy has shown that over 90% of Quality Improvement projects meaningfully involve patients, ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs are met. Additionally, our Peer Support Workers and lived experience practitioners are crucial in fostering a culture of recovery and enhancing the experiences of staff, patients, and carers.
Quality Improvement Collaborative:
The trust is also undertaking a Quality Improvement (QI) collaborative to improve Therapeutic Observations & Engagement within a diverse range in-patient setting across CNWL over the next eighteen months. This initiative aims to enhance patient safety and care quality by systematically monitoring and refining the therapeutic observation processes. Quality Improvement plays a vital role in achieving our clinical priorities by engaging patients in their care, redesigning care pathways to be more efficient and patient-centered, and incorporating patient feedback to continuously improve our services and the provision of care to the populations that we serve.
If you would like to know more about the clinical strategy and how this can support you with your improvement goals then please contact Anita Gundecha, Head of Strategy, at cnwl.strategy@nhs.net
Introducing Dr Kramer as Clinical Lead for Quality Improvement at CNWL
The QI Team would like to welcome Dr Tami Kramer to the Improvement Academy, as our new Clinical Lead.
Dr Kramer will join the Quality Improvement Team in February 2025, providing expert clinical leadership and advice for the Trust’s Improvement Programme.
Read more here.
Celebrating success - Improvement stories from around CNWL
Royal College of Psychiatry Quality Improvement Annual Conference 2024
The Royal College of Psychiatry Quality Improvement Annual Conference 2024 focused on enhancing patient care and operational efficiency within the NHS.
Key themes included:
- Patient Flow Improvement: Insights from the ‘Improving Flow’ Spreadathon Collaborative.
- Sustainability in Healthcare: Elysium Healthcare’s project.
- Racial Equity in Health: Plenary session by Nandi Simpson.
- Youth Mental Health: Improving services for children and young people.
- Psychologically Informed Environments: Introduction of the Diamond framework.
- Co-production and Racial Inequities: Addressing critical issues.
The conference featured interactive workshops, networking opportunities, and highlighted the Amazon Ward’s improvement project at St Charles Hospital. Read the full story here[ .
CNWL celebrates Expert by Experience contributions to service improvement
CNWL’s Improvement Academy hosted an event to celebrate the contributions of Experts by Experience (EbE) in service improvement. Key highlights include:
- Opening Remarks: Emphasis on recognising contributions from staff, service users, and carers.
- EbE Role: Vital in achieving quality improvement goals, aiming for 100% involvement.
- Project Presentations: Success stories from the Pond Ward QI Project and Kensington and Chelsea Home Treatment Team.
- Panel Discussion: Practical insights into engaging EbE colleagues.
- Awards Ceremony: Honouring EbE contributions.
- Conclusion: Reiterating the benefits of EbE involvement in QI initiatives.
Full story via the link here.
Reducing medicines spend within the Health and Justice Directorate
The CNWL Health and Justice Directorate is working to reduce medicine spending by 10% by April 2025. Key challenges include UK drug inflation, drug shortages, an increasing and aging prison population, higher prisoner turnover, and increased demand for specialist services. Read more here.
CAMHS Community Teams spread Happy Doc to reduce assessment times
The CAMHS Community Teams’ project, initially launched in Kensington and Chelsea, successfully reduced assessment times by 30%. Key strategies included pre-assessment forms, a new assessment template, digital dictation, and locally driven change ideas. The Adoptathon initiative tested these strategies in new locations, revealing that scaling up requires more time and adaptation to local contexts. Despite challenges, the project fostered staff motivation, improved process understanding, and reduced variation. Monthly Quality Improvement Forums facilitated progress sharing and learning, with valuable input and feedback from Experts by Experience enhancing care plan letters.
Read more here.
Expert by Experience (EbE) updates
Would you like support to involve EbEs in your improvement work?
The QI and Involvement Teams facilitate a collaborative working group called the EbE Improvement Forum. This group comprises of EbEs who have used CNWL services and are passionate about improving services.
Our EbE forum members bring unique perspectives and insights to your improvement work which help ensure that your improvement work is going to be meaningful and have the best impact for those who use your service.
These forums are held on the third Monday (excluding bank holidays) of every month via Zoom. The three available slots for each forum are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and the next available date is:
- Monday 17 February 2025, 1.30-3pm (20 mins slot per team)
Interested teams can book one of the three available 20-minute slots by contacting the QI Team via cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net.
EbE Newsletter
Our EbE newsletters celebrate collaborative working between CNWL staff and Expert by Experience colleagues across various improvement projects in the Trust.
If you’d like to be featured in future newsletters, we’re asking to hear from any project teams who have had meaningful involvement from EbE(s) and would like to share your story. Please get in touch via email: cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net.
Our latest Improvement Collaborative (the fourth of its type at CNWL) is now under way with 18 in-patient teams taking part.
- All teams have now had at least one QI coaching session with their allocated coach.
- Some have already instructed their own EbE colleague to form a part of the project team. This is something we are asking all teams to have in place as part of the programme.
- Our second Learning Session is taking place at Woburn House on 22 January, 9-am-4pm. We are looking forward to seeing all our teams there!
Watch this space for more details on ‘iCollab4’.
Upcoming Training Opportunities - building your QI knowledge
The Improvement Academy offers a full education programme open to anyone in CNWL and any EbE who is actively working with a QI project team in CNWL.
Level 1 (Bronze) QI Training - Bitesize QI (CPD Accredited Training)
Start your improvement learning journey with us via a 3.5hr session providing you with an introduction to Quality Improvement (with participation actively encouraged throughout). You will learn about the Model for Improvement and how to be a part of any QI project.
All roles and bands are welcome, you do not need to be leading or involved in a pre-existing QI project to attend.
Places for Bitesize QI continue to book up well in advance and quickly so we have now enabled the waiting list option on LDZ so you can register your interest and if a place becomes available, it’ll be offered to you!
Please search LDZ for Level 1 Bitesize QI Training to enrol onto an available date or join a waiting list.
Level 2 (Silver) QI Training – How to run a QI Project 
We have recently completed Cohort 5 of our Level 2 QI training. Congratulations to all our graduates! But, as we enter into 2025, and in the spirit of improvement, we are re-designing the offering for our Silver training. More information will follow, and we look forward to working with Cohort 6 in Spring 2025.
We are pleased to announce that we are already planning for our next cohort, likely starting Spring 2025. To be placed on the expression of interest list, email us: cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net
Please contact the QI Team on cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net if you would like to talk to someone about Level 2 (silver) QI Training: How to run a QI Project, and the team will be eager to help you decide if this course is for you!
Level 3 (Gold) QI training: Leading Improvement for Senior Leaders (CPD Accredited Training)
Are you a senior leader who wants to lead improvement of your services and adopt an improvement approach to your role? Do you want to know how to sponsor teams doing QI projects? If so, then this is the course for you.
We are currently awaiting dates for our next cohort in 2025. Please check the Improvement Academy website and LDZ for more information.
This CPD Accredited full day workshop-based training is aimed at senior leaders (Band 8a and above). This course offers training and tools to help senior leaders to; adopt an improvement approach to their day to day work, sponsor an improvement project and support teams to use an improvement approach.
To book your place or for more information, go to LDZ and search for Level 3 (Gold) QI Training: Leading improvement for senior leaders under the Leadership and Management and Improvement Academy (Quality Improvement) tabs.
All QI training provided by the Improvement Academy can be booked via LDZ. For full information and resources relating to QI in CNWL, visit the Improvement Academy Microsite.
Book time with us to discuss everything QI!
To book, send a request stating your preferred date and time to
cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net and we shall confirm back to you with a diary invite and link to your QI clinic slot.
We look forward to speaking with you!
- Head of Quality Improvement: Bridget Browne (bridget.browne@nhs.net)
- QI team email address: cnw-tr.improvementsupport@nhs.net
- Improvement Advisor divisional support:
- Corporate – Bridget Browne (bridget.browne@nhs.net)
- Diggory and Goodall – Peter Toohey (peter.toohey@nhs.net)
- Jameson – Isaac Obeng (isaac.obeng1@nhs.net)
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CNWL Improvement Academy Microsite: |
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Life QI: (Organisation: CNWL) |
If you have any feedback about this newsletter, or you would like anything including in the next edition, please get in touch as we would love to hear from you!