Why did you get involved with QI?
The first thing that made me interested was that it is a huge thing in ELFT I first heard about it when I was in another trust, and thought what is QI about? I then started doing my research, talking to friends and people who worked in ELFT and thought ‘this is going to change how we care for people. It will change the way that we do things’. I wanted to be part of it and so interested in how we use QI to support service users and staff.

How has QI changed your approach to patient care?
You definitely start to focus more on what’s meaningful for service users. You look at what really counts when it comes to care. You connect those two together, you connect the system together and it provides you with a way to navigate through the system, so that the service user comes out at the top in terms of who benefits the most. 

Which QI project blew you away?
The most mind-blowing one for me has been the therapeutic observation engagement QI project that the trust is currently focused on. It looks at the three aspects: the completion of observations, the experience of observations and the engagement aspect of observations and how they can really make a difference to someone’s care.Using QI methodology to get to a point where service users benefit in the long term, that’s mind blowing, I don’t think this is happening anywhere else. To be part of a QI project and lead that project within my local borough is amazing.

How does QI help Trust colleagues?
It enables you to connect with everyone that is involved in QI. Anyone can be involved. You can do a pocket QI and an improvement leader’s programme, if you want to take a step further you can coach teams and go through the coaching programme. As long as there is passion and as long as there is the willingness to support service users and staff. QI benefits everyone as a whole. It allows you to learn more about the service user experience, humanising the experience.

How does QI help patients and carers?
It’s important when patients have a say. The care we provide needs to reflect the service user experience, QI helps to do this. It supports staff with understanding what patients and service users are going through. More than anything it’s about connection.

Do you need any clinical qualifications to get involved in QI?
You don’t need any clinical qualifications. Just passion and a little bit of structure here and there!