Dr Rosemary Hollick, Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen and Specialty Registrar in Rheumatology at NHS Grampian has been selected to join the inaugural participants of a ground-breaking new initiative to improve the quality of care for patients in the NHS.
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.
Rosemary will join the first participants, who will 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.
Rosemary is currently undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Prof Lorna McKee, HRSU, Prof David Reid, Head of Medicine and Dentistry and Dr Alison Black, Clinical Lead for Rheumatology, NHS Grampian. This is exploring the implementation and outcome evaluation of a new mobile bone density scanning service aimed at addressing inequalities in access to care for those living in remote and rural communities in Scotland. It aims to identify critical factors determining ‘how and why’ innovations are translated into practice.
“The Q initiative provides an exciting opportunity for me to develop new skills and facilitate translation of health services research and clinical expertise in Aberdeen into service innovation and design that will be of direct benefit to patients. This closely aligns with one of the priorities in Health Services Research Unit which is to develop and evaluate innovations to improve the quality of service delivery.”
Penny Pereira, Assistant Director of Strategy at the Health Foundation, comments: “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, comments: “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.”