We are currently seeking a Senior Improvement Lead to join our Patient Safety team (deadline for applications is 21 August 2020).

Here our previous Senior Improvement Lead Laura Hailes, who has left to take on a national patient safety role for NHS England and NHS Improvement, talks about her experiences working as part of the Patient Safety team.

To find out more about the role and how to apply, visit the NHS Jobs website.

This blog is a reflection before Laura left EMAHSN:

 My background

I am a Registered Nurse. I came to Nottingham at the age of 18 to study for my undergraduate diploma in Adult Nursing, and I liked the county so much that I stayed. My first Staff Nurse role was in acute Oncology (on wards dedicated to looking after males and teenage and young adults) and my last clinical role was caring for women over the age of 65, on the Healthcare of the Older Person ward (focus on dementia and general medical issues). So I’ve covered quite a spectrum! Whilst at the East Midlands AHSN I completed further studies and in 2019 I graduated with an MSc in Advanced Nursing.

The Senior Improvement Lead Role

I started off at EMAHSN as a Patient Safety Fellow within the Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), a position I held for around 18 months. This gave me an insight into the type of patient safety work being undertaken in the region and also gave me the opportunity to formally build upon my Quality Improvement (QI) skills. Not only did this experience increase my knowledge around patient safety, but it also grew my enthusiasm, leading to me applying for the promotion of Senior Improvement Lead (SIL).

Whilst I had previously carried out a variety of roles in health and social care, I came to EMAHSN directly from a clinical role in an acute trust. I was (and still am!) passionate about driving forward change and QI. I recognised that I’d have more freedom and opportunity to do this, if I left my clinical role and came to work for the AHSN across the East Midlands.

The role day-to-day

Every day is different! That’s my favourite aspect of the role – the variety. I’m someone who likes a challenge and needs to be kept busy. I certainly get that from being a SIL at the EMAHSN. In normal circumstances, some days I can be on a train to London to link up with my counterparts in other regions. Other days, I can be working from home or in the office in the morning, then off out to meet with stakeholders in Northampton or another of the counties in our region.

It’s a complex system that we work in and I like the fact that I can connect the different aspects in order to create a more joined up way of working. Generally, this sees me sharing learning from the frontline, to those working in the National Patient Safety Programme, and vice versa. I like to think that my role sits in between and helps key messages and new ideas get shared across the region and nationally, too. I see myself as an advocate for staff/patients/residents etc. and I like to work in a facilitative and coaching way to ensure that patient safety and QI remains top priority.

The projects I work on

I’ve had the pleasure of working on such a variety of projects over the years. From recognising deterioration in care homes residents, to upskilling staff to reduce the rates of maternal and neonatal deaths, stillbirths, and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth.

As part of the National COVID-19 response programme, I worked on Safe Tracheostomy Care. This is currently in the scoping phase with acute trusts, but should our stakeholders tell us that these safety interventions are needed outside of hospitals, we may need to commence phase two and scope within community settings.

Highlights during my time at EMAHSN

I feel privileged to say that I have enjoyed lots of ‘stand out moments’ during my three years with the EMAHSN. But there a few in particular, that spring to mind. I’ve had a number of opportunities to present our local and regional work on a national stage. This has included speaking at conferences such as NHS Expo, Patient Safety Congress and the National Outreach Forum.

I’ve also had the pleasure of contributing to international work. The last time I did this I was lucky to meet with European care homes improvement and research colleagues in Bern, Switzerland to see how they deliver care and what lessons we can share with one another.

But my favourite moment of them all was in 2019 when EMAHSN won a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Award for our LPZ Care Homes QI project. This was so well deserved for all the dedicated care homes staff and improvement colleagues who’ve contributed to the project over the years. To be able to stand on that stage alongside these devoted care champions, and accept national recognition was amazing, heart-warming and real career highlight.

Author 

Laura Hailes, Former Senior Improvement Lead