Evolving Q to best serve our members and our changing health systems

Back in the autumn we shared some big news for Q. After a decade at the Health Foundation, we announced our move to the NHS Confederation (now the NHS Alliance).

And although it’s only been a few months, I know we’re not alone in having been through a particularly busy and challenging time. Many of you are feeling the impact of financial pressures, policy and structure changes in your own organisations.

For Q, we’ve started this financial year with some changes in our team and our activities, but a sustained commitment and energy to supporting our members. I want to share a bit more about how and why we’re evolving, as well as some highlights to look forward to.

As you might imagine moving organisations was no small feat. I’m so grateful to colleagues within the Q team, at the Health Foundation and at the NHS Alliance for all their work to make our transition as seamless as possible.

Over the next six months, alongside my responsibilities for Q, I’ll be leading the development of the NHS Alliance’s strategy for supporting improvement and leadership development in the sector. This is a great opportunity to build on the strengths and assets of the organisations that have come together in the NHS Alliance.

The work we’ve done together with the NHS Alliance colleagues in the last few months illustrates some of what we can build on:

• Featuring many Q members in our latest joint podcast series. Topics covered the Scottish Approach to Change, co-production and population health. One episode also shared highlights from the NHS Impact improvement conference which we collaborated on. 
• Supporting The Eye Care Closer to Home programme – shifting ophthalmology services out of hospital and into community and neighbourhood settings. You can sign up for the event in July to learn from participants’ experiences.
• Designing and delivering a programme to support system-wide cardiovascular disease prevention across West Yorkshire and Birmingham and Solihull ICBs. 
• Developing plans for joint convening, including a Quality Conference in early 2027.
• Raising the profile of the anti-racist model for improvement developed by the Race and Health Observatory, also hosted at the NHS Alliance. 

I’m really excited about the opportunities to collectively support improvement and transformation, with insights and opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

As you may remember from our announcement in the autumn, alongside our move from the Health Foundation we shared some changes to Q’s activities. In light of financial pressures and the needs of the sector, we’re evolving the ways in which we help accelerate the improvement of health and care. 

To support these changes in our activities, we’re adjusting how the Q team is structured. Some of you may have heard that sadly as part of this, we’ve been saying goodbye to some valued colleagues. Each of them has contributed so much over the years, helping shape the community we are today. They will be greatly missed.

With that in mind, I’m particularly pleased we’ve recently made it easier for people to join Q. Our new process is simpler, with a more accessible form and better communications after joining. Its redesign has been shaped by members and addresses some recommendations from Picker’s evaluation of Q’s impact. This is an important step forward to ensure the community becomes an ever more diverse and inclusive space for us all to connect and learn together.

We are also updating some of our discussion forum notifications, so you should find it easier to stay connected to the community and keep up with posts for any online groups you’re part of. You can of course adjust these settings yourself at any time.

As ever, we’ve got lots coming up. I’ve picked out a few highlights below, and there’s plenty more on our website. 

I’m looking forward to our upcoming events, including: a discussion about how we might reimagine economy and health, a workshop exploring approaches to system-level change, as well as our regular networking, skills, and group events. 

And if you’re coming to ConfedExpo this week, do join one of our sessions or pop by the NHS Alliance stand to say hello!

We’re delighted to be partnering with Macmillan Cancer Support for our next Lab. Through the Lab we aim to collectively reimagine holistic cancer care closer to home, and test new models in practice. We’ll be looking for teams and individuals who are open to new ways of thinking and inspired by improving cancer care. 

You can read more about our work with Macmillan on their website, and sign up now to be notified when applications open. We’ll be letting our members know too.

For those of us in England, the upcoming Quality Strategy provides an opportunity to inform the focus on quality over the years ahead. As part of the strategy’s development, I have been part of an expert reference group and we brought together Q members’ perspectives as part of our roundtable event. 

Once it’s published, we’ll be reflecting on what the strategy means for the sector, working with the NHS Alliance colleagues to inform and convene people, including through a Quality Conference in early 2027. 

Finally, in thinking about the value we believe Q can bring to the sector, we’ve been exploring new ways we can support organisations and systems. We’re currently working with national and commercial partners to deliver some exciting projects.

We’ve developed a range of paid-for services for NHS organisations seeking bespoke input. We make sure the projects we take on align with our goals and values. 

By working on a commissioned basis, we can generate income to reinvest in the community – helping keep Q membership free – while directly supporting our mission and often generating insights and benefits for members. Our work in Quality Management Systems is a good example, where we are bringing our expertise to create more supportive conditions for improvement in organisations, and share learning back with the community. 

We’ve published details about our services on our website. If you think we could support your organisation or system too, email at q@thenhsalliance.org.

Q has always been shaped by its members, and that remains as true as ever. As we keep moving forward, we’ll continue to learn and evolve together. The team and I really welcome your reflections and ideas.