Annual Conference Celebrates Quality Improvement

Dr Jacqueline Cornish and Evelina London Director, Marian Ridley, at the conference.

Staff from across Evelina London celebrated improvement projects and new ideas to provide better care for patients at their annual Quality Improvement Conference.

The Quality Improvement Conference is an opportunity for Evelina London staff to come together to share learning and celebrate achievements. All staff from across the hospital and community are invited to present their improvement projects, demonstrating how they have made a positive change.

This year the conference focused on patient involvement and engagement. More than 80 people attended, from medical students to senior leaders and including both clinical and non-clinical staff.

James O’Brien, Director of Quality and Improvement, said: “It’s been incredible to see the amount and variety of work presented at the conference by our inspirational staff. Once again it shows how passionate our teams are about improving services and hopefully it will encourage all of our staff to become involved in improvement projects focusing on delivering better care for children, young people and families. I’m already looking forward to our fifth Quality Improvement Conference next year.”

Guest speaker, Dr Jacqueline Cornish, National Clinical Director Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, NHS England, gave a speech about the importance of continuously striving for improved health outcomes.

Dr Cornish has a wide range of experience from her career as a children’s Oncologist and Director of Stem Cell Transplant and then as Head of Women’s and Children’s Services in Bristol, before taking up her national role.

Dr Cornish said: “Let’s remember the reason we are all doing this, the reason you’ve all done such wonderful work here tonight is because you all care so much for your patients.”

Over 40 projects were displayed by community and hospital teams. Five presentations were selected to receive prizes based on innovation, patient-focus or use of quality improvement methodology. The winning projects were:

• Integration of peer support and annual review into routine practice – a project by the rheumatology team to look at setting up a new style clinic bringing together families with similar conditions to share experiences.
• ChatHealth texting service – evaluation of a new text messaging service allowing young people in Lambeth and Southwark aged 11-19 to text their school nurse for advice. Since launching, the service has received around 80 messages a month.
• The Hummingbird Clinic – evaluation of a clinic specially designed to meet the needs of children with sensory processing difficulties and complex needs. The Hummingbird Clinic has transformed the way we assess these patients.
• Improving prescription processes – changes to the process of providing prescriptions when patients leave the hospital have led to great efficiency and time saved, meaning young people are getting home quicker.
• Audiology administration – small changes to administration following audiology appointments have made a big impact with the time saved allowing for more appointments to be made available for more patients.