Outcomes - West Region
Regional Champion: Anna O'Neill
Anna is responsible for communication with Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley and Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Boards, and with the University of the West of Scotland, the University of Glasgow, and Glasgow Caledonian University.
Regional divisions for the CS MEN were determined pragmatically: because each Regional Champion is seconded to the Network for only 4 hours a week the workload was divided to make communication manageable. We are aware that the divisions used differ to others used in the NHS and by the SFC, and are facilitating cluster groups that cross the regions we are working with (for example between the Universities of Abertay Dundee, Dundee and St. Andrews), recognising that clinical skills do not fit neatly within three regions.
Now in its third year of operation, the CS MEN has set ambitious Key Performance Indicators for 2010 for each region. For the West, these are:
Quality assurance KPIs
By the end of 2010, each Health Board will have been invited to adopt the self-assessment questionnaire, successfully piloted by the CS MEN in 2009, to assist its internal QA processes. The questionnaire sets out 9 key standards that simulated skills sessions should meet, and Anna is available to assist Boards in implementing them.
The first Board to be adopting the questionnaire is NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, where work has begun, with a target to have the questionnaire completed for 30-40 education sessions by the end of April.
After NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, use of the questionnaire will be rolled-out to NHS Forth Valley, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
Adoption of the questionnaire by all Boards will assist in the transfer of skills, and negate the need for a costly skills passport to be introduced.
Resource development KPIs
The CS MEN will be developing additional skills packs to meet locally and nationally identified training needs, in priority areas. Members from the West will be invited to participate in determining content or the review process for new packs, and will lead on resource development for: IV Medicines, for which an initial meeting was held in Edinburgh to review the pack for national use, attended by Chris Ronayne (NHS GGC), Paula Ingram and Irene Lavery (NHS Lothian), Lisi Gordon (multiprofessional project Tayside) and Andrea Baker (CS MEN resource developer); and Drug Calculations, as part of the IV Medicines pack.
If you would like to help in the development of any of these packs please contact me at aonei001@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Mobile unit KPIs
The CS MEN will roll out a national programme of Prescribing for Pharmacists and Anna will support this by contacting pharmacists in remote & rural parts of the West region. It is also intended to pilot the “Pre-hospital mental health care” national programme led by RRHEAL in remote areas and Anna will assist with this.
There is a need to find, train and second a pool of drivers for the mobile unit from all regions, and Anna will liaise with Scottish Ambulance Service to identify suitable individuals. It is also necessary to train more faculty to deliver courses through the unit and Anna will liaise with stakeholders in her region to enable them in turn to train 20 more people per region.
If you would like to apply for the faculty development course, please contact me at aonei001@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Network KPIs
Anna will work to consolidate the network in the West by holding a regional consortia meeting in Glasgow in April (date to be confirmed shortly). The meeting will look at the quality assurance process for clinical skills sessions, showcase some of the packs CS MEN has developed and provide an update on the mobile skills unit.
It is hoped to run faculty development days in the region and Anna will initiate group meetings with Health Boards and HEIs to this end.
Research and Development KPIs
R&D monies of £24,000 are available to fund small projects in the West region and it is envisaged that the research should focus on topics around human factors; transferring skills from simulation into practice; or measuring the impact of skills education. The research should have demonstrable benefit to the patient experience or patient safety and Anna will be responsible for ensuring that suitable researchers are made aware of the application procedure. Decisions will be made on the potential impact of the research findings which researchers would need to have published in a quality journal; and awards will be approved by NHS Education for Scotland to further ensure impartiality. A process for requesting funding is being developed and details will be announced at the end of February.
