Stakeholder survey highlights key strengths of the West of England AHSN

We received an excellent response to our latest stakeholder survey, with colleagues from member organisations across the West of England revealing how much they value the wide-ranging improvement and innovation support we provide.

95% of those receiving quality improvement support and 93% of those receiving patient safety support say they are finding this valuable. It is clear that our stakeholders are benefiting from the space and opportunities we offer our health and care community to come together to learn both from each other and from recognised best practice.

Other areas of support particularly appreciated by our members as revealed by the survey include leadership, business development, support for commissioners, support to facilitate collaboration, and the identification, adoption and spread of innovation.

A4 Infographics (Support) web

NHS England commissioned YouGov to carry out the 2016 stakeholder survey in August and September to measure the impact being made by all 15 AHSNs around the country.

212 people replied to the West of England questionnaire – marking a 72% increase on the number of respondents last year. You can download our survey report here, while the national report on the AHSN Network as a whole can be found here.

“The West of England AHSN works across organisations, improving communication and collaboration. The team has expertise in QI, is refreshingly innovative and forward-thinking, and is intent on being agile.” Survey respondent

The survey asked those involved in our work to identify what they saw as the key strengths of the West of England AHSN. Our focus on building a strong culture of partnership and collaboration is valued by 76% of respondents, with our knowledge of the local landscape highlighted by 73%.

Respondents scored us highly on our ability to promote change in the local health economy, along with our focus on the needs of patients and local populations, and our approach to speeding up the adoption of innovation into practice – all of which will be particularly important in our developing work to support STPs.

A4 Infographics (Strengths) web

The survey results also show good awareness and support of our key programmes of work, in particular NEWS (National Early Warning Score), Don’t Wait to Anticoagulate and the Diabetes Digital Coach.

Deborah Evans, Managing Director of the West of England AHSN, said: “I’m extremely proud of the work we’re delivering here in the AHSN, but it’s not until you ask people working in the organisations we’re here to support that you can really understand where our strengths lie and where we might do more.

“The findings of this latest stakeholder survey are very encouraging. Firstly our reach has grown significantly with so many more people sharing their views compared to last year. We doubled the number of responses from CCGs, as well as doubling the number from health and social care providers, and both these groups rated us very highly.

“I’m particularly happy to see how much our staff team here at the AHSN is valued. There were extremely positive responses in the survey about how knowledgeable, helpful, enthusiastic and inspirational our people are. We’re a small team and, as I’ve said before, we definitely punch above our weight. It is brilliant to hear how much they are appreciated.

“The vast majority of our stakeholders say they would recommend working with us and can see that we are helping their organisation to achieve their own objectives, clearly valuing the support and opportunities for collaboration that we provide.

“In terms of our future direction and priorities, the survey indicates a clear call for continued support for the three Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) being developed in the West of England. Many respondents told us how much they valued our work and hoped we could do more in this area, such as how to use evidence more effectively and in cross-organisation pathway redesign. This feedback will be built into our future business planning.”

Download the full West of England AHSN survey report here.

The national report is available on The AHSN Network website.

Posted on November 21, 2016

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