Transformation is high on the agenda for health and care communities. There are significant demands on organisations to work together to better integrate services and streamline pathways for safer, more patient-centred care, while improving efficiency and reducing costs.
The role of the West of England AHSN, and the AHSN Network which makes up the 15 AHSNs in England, is to aid and support our healthcare systems and member organisations through this journey as both a champion and critical friend.
National programmes
We are delivering a number of programmes on behalf of the AHSN Network:
- Management and identification of cardiovascular disease
- Polypharmacy: getting the balance right
- Blood pressure optimisation
- Improving diagnosis of ADHD
- Early Intervention Eating Disorders
Improving patient safety
An important focus of much of our transformation work is in improving patient safety. The majority of this work is commissioned by NHS England although we also undertake patient safety projects identified by our member organisations as a local priority.
Local priorities
Across the West of England, we have a number of local projects which aim to address priorities highlighted by our members and health care systems. These include:
- Preventing surgical site infection (known as PreciSSIon)
- Improving NIV (non-invasive ventilation) care
- Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Premature Birth (known as PERIPrem)
- South West Learning Disabilities Collaborative
- Medicines optimisation
- Training and resources for care providers including RESTORE2
- COPD Digital CHAMP (Coaching Health App Implementation Partnership)
- Addressing maternal inequity through Black Maternity Matters and our Regional Perinatal Equity Network
- Creating an evidence repository for those working in the NHS, public health or universities
- Supporting high impact users in Emergency Departments (known as SHarED)
- Non-COVID virtual wards
Driving innovation and improvement
Embedded in the regional health and care economy with links to industry, research bodies and universities, we are in a unique position to:
- Support systems to adopt evidenced based innovations to narrow local healthcare inequalities through the Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP).
- Signpost and drive adoption and spread of proven treatments and diagnostics through the Rapid Uptake Products Programme and Med Tech Funding Mandate.
- Provide free learning opportunities and resources for developing innovative thinking and QI skills through the West of England Academy.
National programmes 2018-2020
The AHSN Network’s national programmes in 2018-2020 were:
