Well Newham Challenge cohort 1 share & learn event
At a recent ‘share and learn’ session for the Well Newham Challenge project groups, the importance and benefit of collaboration between our hospital and the local borough was highlighted once more.
The challenge, which launched in July this year, is funded by Newham Council and aims to empower and support Newham Hospital staff to use their expertise in new ways, to help address the social determinants of health shape local residents’ experience of care. The projects funded in this inaugural cohort presented their work to date, sharing their successes so far, what they’ve learned and how the process overall has been for them.
Among the 30+ attendees were Cllr Neil Wilson and Jason Strelitz, director of public health for the London Borough of Newham. Speaking on the event, Jason said: “At Newham council, we understand the value and importance of collaborating closely with the hospital to recognise how our community’s social conditions impact both their health and care. That is why we’re so excited about the Well Newham Challenge. Seeing the progress of these projects in a relatively short period of time, and speaking to those delivering them, reinforced this idea and I look forward to seeing them progress even more.”
Some of the successes of this initiative to date include how working on these projects has helped Newham Hospital staff to develop both their project management and quality improvement (QI) skills and reminded them that the council is a valuable partner to collaborate with in many ways.
Similarly, teams shared how collaborating with people further afield – like the North East London the integrated care system, charity organisations and local health groups – can help take your project to new heights and provide support in getting it off the ground. This is something the teams are in the initial stages of scoping out and hope to develop further.
Lessons that participating teams had learned, which they and others can benefit from, were also shared. This includes a key learning that things take time. Participants highlighted that, when developing a project, it is key to allow flexibility, and extra time, as it can take longer than you think, particularly to get started. They also noted that having a group of people working on the project helps to share the load and progress things faster.
It was also shared that using QI methodology to break a project down into smaller, bitesize projects, helps when it comes to testing out your ideas or approach. While with health research, like clinical trials, testing often takes years and thousands of participants, this isn’t the same for QI testing. Instead, small groups of no more than 50 people can give you incredibly valuable information in a short period of time.
Speaking on the event, Dr Liat Sarner, medical director for Newham Hospital said:
“It was fantastic to see such high-quality presentations from colleagues and to see first-hand the great work they’re doing. Working in a hospital gives you insight into people’s needs outside of healthcare and seeing colleagues putting their experience and expertise in this area to good use, in collaboration with the local council, is fantastic. I’m very proud.”
In the next few months, each project will be progressing their projects further and obtaining more data.
