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The East Midlands AHSN host the East Midlands Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Senate. The Senate is made up of experienced and insightful patient and public contributors bringing invaluable patient and public perspectives. They provide independent advice and guidance both to the East Midlands AHSN and our region’s health and care system, ensuring the public are at the front and centre of what we do.
PPI Senate Co-Chairs play a vital role in steering the Senate by providing leadership, coordination and support to enable the PPI Senate to flourish.
In this blog our new Co-Chairs, Veronica Price-Job and Susan Edge, give us an insight into their backgrounds in health and care, what motivates them and their vision for the East Midlands PPI Senate.
Here Veronica shares her personal experiences of the pandemic. She talks about the frustration of changes to her care being made with no explanation or opportunity to discuss them and shares her opinion of the experience of Black communities during the pandemic.
We are currently seeking a Commercial Manager to join our team
In this blog, our current Commercial Manager, Nicholas Brown shares his experiences working in the role for the past 5 and half years and what he has enjoyed most.
To find out more about the role and how to apply, visit the join our team page on our website.
Applications to apply for this role close 19 October 2020.
I joined the East Midlands AHSN having worked for more than 20 years for commercial medical supplier companies.
In this blog, our Commercial Director Tim Robinson highlights the need and significance of digital transformation in the NHS post-COVID-19. He explores how the NHS has had to swiftly adapt to new approaches, the role of industry and commercial partners, and how the East Midlands has locally responded to embedding digital transformation.
Nationally the 'digital landscape' in the NHS has shifted significantly in response to the crisis created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen deployments of new software, platforms, and digital solutions at an unprecedented speed and scale. This is certainly reflected in the experience in the East Midlands, in particular in the space of online and video consultation models. This has been evident across both primary care (GP practices) and secondary care organisations (including acute hospitals, community providers and mental health trusts) where there has been extensive deployments of a range of platforms.
To mark Professional Care Workers Week (1-4 September 2020) and celebrate the excellent care workers we work within the East Midlands, our Patient Safety Collaborative Coordinator Nat talks about her background working in care and how this personally motivates her to want to support these individuals and the sector.
I began working as a care assistant after college. I had an accident which meant I couldn’t continue working as a chef and after helping to deliver a pastry class to adults with learning disabilities, I was inspired to apply for a job in care. I worked for a company that had several residential homes across Nottingham, specialising in supporting adults with learning disabilities and challenging behavior. I worked as a care assistant for six months before applying for a role as team leader and deputising for the home manager when needed. I worked in care for five years before joining the NHS.
Phil Jennings is the Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive at the Innovation Agency which covers the North West Coast and is one of the other 14 Academic Health Science Networks.
Phil provided an overview of his role as Medical Director and his views on the importance of that clinical role to strengthen sustainable adoption and spread of innovation within the health and care system.
East Midlands AHSN is currently seeking a Medical Director to join our Executive team and lead the delivery of our Patient Safety Collaborative and Medicines Optimisation programmes. For more information, please visit the join our team page on our website (closing date: 14 September 2020 ).
Embracing and recognising diversity is extremely important to the communities we live in and to our NHS – this applies to people who work in the NHS and communities the NHS serves. It’s also critical that patients are at the heart of all that we do and understanding people’s lived experience is key to getting it right.
We have seen a really challenging and disruptive few months. The coronavirus pandemic has had a massive impact on our NHS and we have seen a disproportionate effect on those from BAME communities – evidence shows those from these communities are three to four times more likely to die from COVID-19. As well as a widespread pandemic we have seen Black Lives Matter protests –highlighting the racial inequalities that still exist in pockets of our society. These events have made me think about my culture, my roots and my heritage. The national Windrush Day is a great opportunity to celebrate and recognise those who have paved the way.
In a keynote address earlier this year, Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, spoke about better technology being a necessity, not a ‘nice to have’ saying “better technology is vital to have and embracing it is the only way to make the NHS sustainable over the long term”.
It can be argued that this point is even more pertinent now given the challenges faced by the health and care system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time we have seen digital technology and innovation deployed tactically and at an unprecedented pace within the NHS, to maximise efficiencies and improve outcomes.
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.
Nutrition and hydration are extremely important, particularly for older people. Insufficient food and fluid intake can cause fragile skin, increased risk of infections and falls, kidney problems, along with other avoidable consequences.
Care home residents are particularly susceptible to malnutrition and dehydration based on their age, health conditions and their increased dependency.