Taking a step outside the clinical bubble
Blog article
Megan Kirbyshire is six months into her secondment with us here at the West of England AHSN, working to spread and embed ESCAPE-pain across our region. Here Megan reflects on how the secondment has given her the opportunity to see her work in a wider context. I recently had the privilege of presenting at the…
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Gloucestershire’s journey to become an ICS
Blog article
Kay Haughton, our Director of Service Transformation, reflects on learning opportunities on her home patch of Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire has recently been designated as an Integrated Care System (ICS) which recognises that their system is successfully developing effective partnership working. Gloucestershire is where I live, and Gloucestershire CCG is where I very happily worked until May…
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Call the midwife: an AHSN special
Blog article
Ann Remmers, our Maternal and Neonatal Clinical Lead, looks back at a lifelong career in midwifery from bell bottoms to bed baths… Celebrating the 70th birthday of the NHS in 2018 has led to me to reflect on my career in the NHS as it has done for so many people. Thinking back to my…
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Let’s talk about mental health
Blog article
Kay Haughton, our Director of Service Transformation, explores different perspectives on mental health and the enormous impact talking can have on people’s lives. In 2008, 20-year-old Jonny Benjamin stood on Waterloo Bridge, about to jump. Neil Laybourn, a complete stranger to Jonny at that time, saw his distress and stopped to talk with him –…
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My AHSN connection – Sandra Akintola
Blog article
Sandra Akintola, Clinical Project Lead for Bristol Community Health, writes about how her work with the AHSN helped her to hone her networking style, make valuable connections and see the bigger picture to her work. I first connected with the AHSN when I attended a network meeting in place of my manager. Although I didn’t…
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My AHSN connection – Elizabeth Beech
Blog article
Elizabeth Beech is National Project Lead for Healthcare Acquired Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance at NHS England, and a pharmacist for Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (BANES CCG). Here Elizabeth writes about how her involvement with the AHSN and the Q community has helped her to make productive connections and improve local practice. I’ve worked with…
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My AHSN connection – Abby Sabey
Blog article
Abby Sabey, Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of England (UWE) and Senior Teaching Fellow for the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (NIHR CLAHRC West), talks about her work, and how the West of England AHSN helps her to join the dots. My work…
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My AHSN connection – Dr Seema Srivastava MBE
Blog article
Seema was awarded an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for her services to the NHS in Patient Safety. Here Seema writes about her involvement with the West of England AHSN right from the start, and how we help facilitate the work she’s involved in. I’ve been involved with the AHSN right from…
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The Usual Suspects: ways to widen involvement in service improvement
Blog article
Hildegard Dumper, West of England AHSN PPI Manager, reflects on ways to widen involvement and participation in service improvement. This story is a composite drawn from real events with names and identifiable features changed. Pamela came out of the COPD Steering Group meeting the other day feeling really upset, and determined to leave the project.…
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We can and we should adopt NEWS
Blog article
Steven West, Chair of the West of England AHSN and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England, explores how we can come together to create solutions that are sustainable, affordable and acceptable to all NHS stakeholders? Our NHS and social care system are one of the country’s greatest assets. They are a fantastic gift that we…
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