A Liverpool hospital consultant has been chosen as one of just four UK health professionals to take part in an international initiative which aims to share health knowledge between the UK and the USA.
Chris Grant, a Consultant in Anaesthesia in the Critical Care Unit at University Hospital Aintree, has been offered a prestigious Quality Improvement Fellowship by independent healthcare charity, the Health Foundation.
He will spend a year at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developing skills in healthcare quality improvement techniques.
Chris, 37, originally from Ormskirk, will be joined by his wife, a physiotherapy lecturer at the University of Liverpool, and two young children.
On returning, he will put his learning into practice to drive improvements at University Hospital Aintree and across the wider North West.
Chris said: “The NHS is going through some significant changes at the moment and this is a fantastic opportunity to explore new ways of working.
“I will be in the unique position of having access to some of the most senior people in medicine from around the world and I hope to tap into their knowledge and experience and use that to inform decisions back at home.
"The priority for me is to look at new ways of working that do not adversely affect quality or safety.”
Jo Bibby, Director of Improvement Programmes at the Health Foundation, added: “We are delighted to be supporting such talented professionals. Our previous Quality Improvement Fellows are beginning to make real changes to the quality of care in the UK. We are confident that this year’s fellows will follow in their footsteps.”
Each year, the Health Foundation’s Quality Improvement Fellows take up their places in July for approximately a year, relocating to the US for the duration of their tenure.
These individuals must be senior NHS leaders who are clinically qualified and have a track record of achievement in quality improvement, and the motivation to become quality improvement champions within the UK.
The aim is that on their return, fellows will integrate their learning into processes and procedures at their employing organisation in order to really impact on service improvement and promote quality improvement nationally.
The Health Foundation Quality Improvement Fellowships will be open for application for the 2012 cohort on 4 July 2011.
For further information about the Quality Improvement Fellowships visit the Health Foundation website www.health.org.uk/qifs.
Post a comment