UKIA members visit the North East Transformation System

UKIA members visit the North East for the
latest on Lean methodologies.

A team of staff from the Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) as well as other members of the UK Improvement Alliance (UKIA) recently travelled to Gateshead for an exciting visit hosted by the North East Transformation System (NETS), to share work on their latest improvement projects.

The UKIA, of which AQuA is a founding member, aims to bring together organisations from across the UK's four countries, to share best practice on quality improvement and learn from each other.

Over the two days the group explored Lean tools and methodologies for improvement in healthcare, alongside colleagues from Haelo, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, 1000 Lives Improvement NHS Wales and Yorkshire & Humber AHSN.

In his first network meeting as UKIA Director, Richard Taunt explored the following questions with members:

• How members continue to foster successful improvement relationships
• How members facilitate new and joint improvement projects
• How UKIA can work as the 'front door' to improvement work across UK healthcare

Members also welcomed Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of recently established NHS Improvement, who discussed the latest developments to drive improvement across the whole of the NHS, and how to balance competing demands between quality, finance, innovation and performance.

Lesley Massey, Director at AQuA, said: "As the work of the UKIA gathers pace, this was a great opportunity to come together with members to look at the latest thinking and shining examples behind Lean methodologies.

"Everyone really enjoyed the opportunity to see Lean in action, with visits to the Surgical Care Centre, Pathology hub, and Urgent Care Centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.

"We were also very grateful to Jim Mackey for joining us from NHS Improvement, and hope we can continue to support the drive for quality improvement at a national level."

Richard Taunt, UKIA Director added, "The visit to Gateshead was super for a number of reasons: the honesty of Jim Mackey, the expertise of the Trust, but above all the commitment of UKIA members to working together to improve health and care really shone through.

“As we move into our next phase of development as an Alliance, we're starting from great foundations."

For more information on the UKIA, please visit their website or follow them on Twitter @TheUKIA. You can also follow Richard via @RichardTaunt.