Naomi

I joined the world of healthcare as a therapeutic radiographer in 2000 and this was the beginning of my passion for creating better services for patients and their families.
 
From my first attempts of just trying to ‘make things better’, I have studied quality improvement as part of patient safety officer training and post-graduate leadership qualifications. I’ve applied my knowledge, skills and experience in various sectors of healthcare, predominantly in radiology services and patient pathways which pass through diagnostic services (a lot!). I am currently a QI Practice Manager, developing ways of working and training opportunities.
 
I’m a proud AHP and advocate of expanding the possibilities of each profession. I co-developed AHP future leaders within Cornwall and also part of celebrating success through the national AHP appreciation day (Chief logo designer!). I’m passionate about developing people who are empowered and equipped to improve the way they work. There is so much potential we can unlock and for so many reasons. Ultimately, I want people who use all health and social care services to feel and be safe.

My QI skills are also of use outside of work. I can be found trying to improve my netball skills (it’s all about flow). Downtime is spent with the family enjoying beautiful Cornwall, a place I feel very lucky to call home.

Vardeep

I started working as a Diagnostic Radiographer in 2000, specialising in MRI for many years. I always thought I would end up in research but about 4 years ago I stumbled into Quality Improvement and I’m totally fascinated by it. I now work fully in the Quality Improvement (QI) team leading the enabling improvement capability across my organisation (North Bristol NHS Trust). This involves providing colleagues with: the skills to participate in QI (enabling), to understand that they don’t need permission to improve (empowering) and to realise it is all of our responsibility to make improvements for our patients in health and care (inspiring).

I have predominately learnt by doing and the more I enter the world of QI the more I realise it is just as much an art as it is a science and that understanding the psychology of change is key to influencing and sustaining improvements.

We are hoping to raise the curiosity and profile of AHPs in Quality Improvement. We are looking for the inquisitive, the enthusiast and the improvement gurus to share the possibilities and experiences of quality improvement in the health and social care system. The tweet chat will be focussed on the experience of AHP’s in QI, considering awareness, involvement and leadership. We’d like to understand how learning from improvement is shared in organisations or across practices. This links nicely to the award category for the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer for Quality Improvement.

A few questions you may wish to think about in advance... 

1. There is no single definition of QI, how would you describe quality improvement?
2. What are the benefits of QI?
3. As an AHP, what opportunities are there for you to be involved in QI?
4. What support is available in your organisation or region to apply QI methodology to practice?