Dr Caesar Acaye
Public Health Advisor
Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust
BME healthy living partnership
Caesar’s project is to develop a Black Minority Ethnic (BME) healthy living partnership to promote local services, and improve access to those services, for the BME community of Barking and Dagenham. The BME community makes up 15% of the Barking and Dagenham population. However, worsening social problems such as poverty and unemployment and high levels of deprivation are keenly experienced by this community. As a result, lifestyle choices are limited and there is increased exposure to risk factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, obesity and a diet high in sugar and fat. This in turn leads to a greater risk of developing conditions such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. Caesar’s project aims to reduce the risk of developing these and other related poor health conditions by promoting inclusion, equity and empowerment to the BME population of Barking and Dagenham.
Catherine Bowell
Lead Manager Orthopaedic Choice and Musculoskeletal Services
South West Hampshire Alliance PCT
Redesign of the rheumatology pathway across South West Hampshire primary care trusts alliance
Catherine’s project is to re-design the rheumatology service across the South West Hampshire Primary Care Trusts Alliance. Currently, rheumatology services to South West Hampshire PCTs are provided by hospital based outpatient clinics with inpatient facilities at district general hospitals. The hospitals have unacceptable waiting times causing potentially damaging delays in treatment, and once a patient is diagnosed there is further difficulty in receiving therapy and day-to-day help to cope with everyday life. Catherine’s project aims to address this by making significant changes in practices through the provision of local accessible services for rheumatology patients and the improvement of access to hospital based services.
Julie Clark
Service Improvement Lead
Care Services Improvement Partnership/National Institute for Mental Health in England
Improving choice and access for mental health service users via the ‘B-responsive’ programme in the North West
Julie’s project is designed to improve choice and access for mental health service users across the North West. Julie’s project to improve services will apply well recognised approaches which are used in acute hospital settings but not yet in mental health. Her aim is to progress the North West mental health services by reducing waiting times, reducing length of stay, and increasing satisfaction amongst service users and staff. Julie will involve patients and their carers in the improvement project in order to develop a more user focused service.
Gail Coster
Radiology Services Manager/Professional Head of Service
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
A collaboration approach for the provision of diagnostic radiology services within primary care
Gail’s project is to identify the potential for a diagnostic radiology service within primary care, including prison healthcare. Currently, patients are referred to hospital for all radiology investigations. This means patients travelling to fixed sites regardless of the complexity or simplicity of their needs. The White Paper published in 2006, ‘Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services,’ provided the impetus for examining services which could be effectively delivered in primary care. Gail’s project aims to address this by bringing together staff and patients from primary care to work with the radiology directorate to examine where and how services could be delivered efficiently, safely and economically in the community.
Dr Karim Dar
Consultant Psychiatrist in Substance Misuse
Central and North West London Mental Health Trust
Reviewing and re-designing current bed management systems and improving therapeutic experience of patients in a specialist detoxification unit
Karim’s project is to review and re-design the referral and admission system and post discharge care to improve the experience of patients in the specialist detoxification unit. Currently patients with drug and alcohol addiction problems are admitted to the inpatient detoxification unit at St Bernard’s Hospital, Middlesex. They are referred to the unit by their local specialist community teams. However, due to current referral and admission procedures and lack of proper pre-admission preparation, patients periodically either fail to attend for admission or leave prematurely. Inappropriate admissions and delayed discharges can also be a problem. Karim aims to address these issues by re-designing the bed management systems and improving the therapeutic group programme on the ward making the service more efficient and patient friendly.
Mr Makani Hemadri
Staff Grade Practitioner in General Surgery
North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospital NHS Trust
One-stop same day service for day case and short stay elective surgical patients
Mr Hemadri’s project is to re-design service delivery for day and short stay surgical patients. Currently, when a patient is referred by a GP to a surgical specialist there may be a wait of up to thirteen weeks. The specialist surgeon might then ask for tests meaning a further few weeks delay. The patient could then be put on a waiting list for surgery and have to attend for a pre and post operative assessment. For day case and short stay surgery, this is a lengthy process. Mr Hemadri’s project directly addresses this problem by introducing a one-stop same day service for all day and short stay patients. Consultation, tests, pre-assessment and surgical operation are all provided on the same day. No routine post-operative visit is scheduled unless it is essential.
Dr Ruth Palmer
Consultant Microbiologist and Director of Infection Prevention and Control
Blackpool Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust
Developing an integrated infection management and control service model
Ruth’s project will reduce the incidence of healthcare associated infections (HCAI) by developing a new infection control service in the trust. Currently, the infection control services in the trust is based on the production and policing of infection control policies and procedures. Although there is evidence to support the value of this approach, the largest reductions in HCAI have been achieved by a different method – surveillance – providing clinical teams with information on their own infection rates and deaths linked with infection. Ruth’s project will therefore change the way the infection control team works by producing individual ward and team reports. The aim is then to work with the clinical teams to help them review their own practice and develop local plans to reduce infection.
Louise Parker
Head of Service Development and Continuous Improvement
Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Primary Care Trust
The case for case management. What’s the right model for Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale Primary Care Trust?
Louise’s project will identify and put into place a system which will provide better care for patients in her trust who have long-term medical conditions. More than 17.5 million people in the UK live with long-term conditions and many of these have complex health and social care needs. Whilst most receive quality care there is evidence that many fail to have their needs met in a co-ordinated way. Often this means they have multiple admissions to hospital and receive care in environments not suitable to their needs. Louise’s project aims to address this by using evidence-based practices to better co-ordinate care and reduce emergency admissions.
Caroline Roberts
Service Redesign Manager
Luton & Dunstable NHS Trust
Patients’ pre-operative journeys – streamlining assessment processes
Caroline’s project will provide a no-delay assessment process for any patient undergoing a surgical procedure. The project will focus on introducing a new assessment process for all patients due to have surgery. They will be given an initial health questionnaire that has been designed to highlight any current medical problems that could potentially cause a delay and/or cancellation of the operation. Medical staff will also be able to start conversations about general health that, historically, do not happen until the pre-assessment. Patients will then all have a nurse-led pre-operative assessment with full screening and diagnostics within one week from the decision to operate. Those patients who have highlighted a potential problem following the health questionnaire will then also have immediate access to an anaesthetist. No patient will be placed on a waiting list until they have had a nurse-led assessment or have been reviewed by an anaesthetist.
Marion Smith
Head of Operations
North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Develop a service modernisation/improvements framework for the trust linked to the Department of Health’s 10 High Impact Changes
Marion’s project will improve services in her acute trust and provide better patient care. Marion’s project will use the Department of Health’s 10 High Impact Changes for service improvement as a guide to establish a service improvement model to modernise services for her acute trust. Once the system is in place, it will show how the trust is performing against the best hospitals nationally and where services need to be improved. It will also measure the impact that these changes have on patient care.
Mike Wafer
Service Manager Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Developing termination of pregnancy services
Mike’s project will improve access to NHS gynaecological services for women seeking termination of pregnancy and aims to provide better gynaecological care for women post-termination. At least one in three women in the UK will have an induced abortion by the time they are 45 years of age. However, women who seek a termination often have difficulty in accessing NHS services meaning that it takes place later than may have been necessary and in some cases women may have to seek alternatives to NHS provision. In the Pennine area the nearest non NHS provider is for many a significant distance away which can make aftercare difficult.
Mike’s aim is to improve access to termination of pregnancy services in his trust so that any woman resident in the Pennine area who chooses to have a termination of pregnancy at 12 weeks or under should, if they wish, be able to access the NHS service. Part of the project will also be about developing a more co-ordinated approach between the hospital and community-provided family planning services. The aim of the project is to reduce the number of terminations in the Pennine area by 2009.
Johanne Wescombe
Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy
Surrey Primary Care Trust
Integration of occupational therapy services in south west Surrey
Johanne’s project will put into practice a more flexible Occupational Therapy (OT) service that will be more efficient and better meet patients’ needs. This will be achieved in conjunction with OT managers in the acute hospital and local social care services. Johanne’s project aims to develop and implement the re-design of OT services in South West Surrey to provide a more efficient, cost effective and streamlined OT service across hospital and community physical rehabilitation services. It is hoped that this will benefit patients as they will see and experience a more co-ordinated service.
Pete Williams
Acute Services Manager
Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Introduction of a local low secure and psychiatric intensive carer service provision for Norfolk service users
Pete’s project will improve services for mental health patients in Norfolk by introducing local low secure units and Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU). PICU is designed for people experiencing acute phases of mental illness who have significant risks of harm either to others, from others, or to themselves. Low secure units meet the needs of people who have less acute phases of mental illness but longer term risks.
Currently, mental health service users in Norfolk must travel out of the area to access specialist care in either of these units, making it difficult for them to connect with local services and often compromising their level of contact with carers, family and friends. This can all impact on the patient’s speed of recovery. Pete’s project will therefore improve experiences for service users by introducing best quality low secure and PICU provision locally, promoting recovery, independence and social inclusion for patients.