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Getting it right: GPs and end of life care planning

Hein Le Roux, Clinical Lead for Patient Safety, West of England AHSN

Hein Le Roux is a GP in Gloucestershire as well as being a Clinical Lead for Patient Safety here at the West of England AHSN. In this blog, Hein reflects on his recent experience of guiding a couple through end of life care planning and how helpful ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and…

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One for the road

Lars Sundstrom, Director of Innovation and Growth

Lars Sundstrom, our Director of Innovation and Growth, who retires on 28 March, reflects on how much the West of England AHSN has achieved, and how we might fail better. Clearing out my desk today deep down in the bottom of a drawer I found one of the first drafts of a strategy paper which…

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Polypharmacy – benefits vs risks

Mark Gregory, Lead Pharmacist

Mark Gregory, our Lead Pharmacist, reflects on the risks associated with polypharmacy and the benefits of deprescribing. In 1995 only 2% of the population over the age of 65 years were prescribed 10 or more medicines. By 2010 this figure had increased to 5% and by 2018 increased further to 8%. For those over the…

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James Barsby

Fear is not an option for leaders of health-tech businesses

James Barsby, Health-Business Mentor, Bristol Ventures

James Barsby, a Health-Business Mentor at Bristol Ventures, has supported business leaders across a range of backgrounds in getting their innovation ‘NHS ready’. He is one of the four business mentors offering free advice through the Swindon and Wiltshire Health and Life Science Innovation Hub. Here, James shares his top tips for innovators and clinical…

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ESCAPE-pain

Taking a step outside the clinical bubble

Megan Kirbyshire, Senior Project Manager, West of England AHSN

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

Kay Haughton, Director of Service Transformation, West of England AHSN

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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