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The SCNs’ clinical leads met with Dr Tom Tasker, who leads on planning future clinical and care professional leadership (CCPL) in GM, to discuss the region’s plans.
The clinical leads emphasised that our networks would be a rich source of clinical intelligence for whatever leadership structure is agreed.
They added it was vital that clinical leadership involved all disciplines and all specialists, as well as generalists. Both CCPL and the SCNs need to develop a reciprocal partnership with service users and carers.
Tom outlined the importance of clinical leadership in the emerging ICS and that the SCNs will be an important contributor to the ICS quality assurance and improvement function.
We would like to wish a happy retirement to our former maternity clinical lead Ms Karen Bancroft (pictured right).
As well as her role with us, Karen has enjoyed a long career helping pregnant women and their families across GM and she talks about this in a Q&A below.
Peter Elton, SCNs' clinical director, said: “Karen has provided inspirational leadership that has led to improvements in outcomes for mothers and their babies. She has managed to include a wide range of clinicians in developing plans and policies ensuring that proper attention is paid to the available evidence. The respect of all the clinical community has been vital in driving progress throughout the Network.”
Julie Cheetham, SCNs’ director, paying tribute, said: “Karen has been a key clinical lead since the inception of the Strategic Clinical Networks in 2013, when the network also covered Lancashire and South Cumbria geography, and before that she was part of the maternity network involved in the major reconfiguration of maternity and children’s services, ‘Making It Better’, across Greater Manchester.
“Karen’s style of leadership is collaborative and empowering, bringing the whole of the maternity community together to improve quality, safety and care of all our women, babies and families.
“She has been instrumental in building and developing our data intelligence through our maternity dashboard work, taking a quality improvement approach to improving outcomes.
“The maternity SCN will miss Karen dearly and we wish her health and happiness in her well-deserved retirement and onward adventures.”
Here, Karen answers some questions about her life as a clinician.
Where did you begin your career in obstetrics and gynaecology and wherehave you worked since?I specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology shortly after qualifying as a doctor, in 1983, and had my first job in the speciality at Withington Hospital, South Manchester, which closed many years ago. Since then I have worked in units all over the country including London, Guildford, Bradford, Leeds and, finally, Bolton.
How long have you worked in Bolton and what roles have you undertakenthere? I have been a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Bolton for over 20 years and during that time I have had a busy clinical practice while holding a number of management roles, including deputy medical director.
What changes have you seen since your first job? During my years as a clinician I have seen many improvements to the service we offer, but have also found that the demands on health professionals are greater, with increasing health problems amongst pregnant women, and in particular the challenges of the pandemic over the last 2 years.
Why did you become involved in the work of the Clinical Networks? I was initially attracted to the role of clinical lead for what was the GM Women's Children's and Young People's Network because of the opportunity to work with units across Greater Manchester to spread best practice and share quality improvement work. This was over 10 years ago now and I have been privileged to work with many enthusiastic and committed health professionals and service users ever since.
What has been your greatest challenge and proudest achievement whilst working with the SCNs?As clinical lead for the Maternity SCN since 2013 my greatest challenge has been to encourage clinicians to embrace collaboration across organisations, and move away from competition, which the NHS had encouraged for many years. I think my proudest achievement has been to establish a maternity dashboard of important outcome measures which clinicians from across Greater Manchester maternity units can use to identify areas for improvement as well as excellent clinical practice.
What are your plans for retirement? I hope to spend more time travelling as circumstances allow. I have a daughter living in New Zealand whom I haven't seen for over 2 years and just as soon as I can I will be spending some time there with her!!
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A new long Covid service has been launched in GM which provides assessments and treatment for patients requiring input from specialists not routinely provided elsewhere.
This means that in addition to accessing support from respiratory specialists and therapists, patients requiring it will receive advice from specialists in chronic fatigue, clinical psychology, neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry and complex rehabilitation.
The service, referred to as our Tier 4 service, is based at Salford Royal Hospital, and is part of a new collaboration between the Northern Care Alliance and Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust.
It has been funded with national Long Covid money and works closely with colleagues within the SCNs who provide ongoing support in this area.
Long Covid is a condition with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations across multiple organs, which could have a significant impact on patients and their carers. Many of these symptoms can be difficult to manage and the Tier 4 service aims to bring the expertise of experienced clinicians to help those who are still struggling.
Patients can be referred directly by emailing the MDT coordinator on longcovidmdt@nca.nhs.uk requesting the MDT pro forma.
The referring clinician will then complete the clinical proforma and send this back to the MDT coordinator. Once received, the case will then be listed for MDT discussion at the next MDT and the outcome will be communicated back to the referring clinician with the appropriate advice. Some patients will require further evaluation and be invited to attend a clinic appointment with one of the specialists within the MDT (either face to face or via telephone).
More information on the service can be obtained by contacting the clinical lead, Professor Nawar Bakerly, nawar.bakerly@nca.nhs.uk
Falls prevention has been identified as a priority in Greater Manchester, with the SCNs’ Frailty Network at the centre of this work.
The University of Manchester has recently produced research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on falls and how they can lead to the deconditioning of GM residents, for example, with the loss of muscle tone or fitness.
The report published on this research includes advice from the GM Frailty Care Reference Group (FCRG) on implementing falls prevention and re-conditioning.
This report was launched at the Delivering Integration in GM: Falls Prevention and Reconditioning event earlier this month, with more than 100 people attending.
You can download the report and executive summary here.
The FCRG aims to align GM services with national planning and strategy to support delivery of high quality and consistent services for older people with complex needs across GM.
Its objectives are to bring together clinical leadership, service providers and commissioners to:
- Support delivery of the national objectives
- Identify and reduce unwarranted variation in clinical outcomes
- Improve clinical outcomes and patient experience
- Act as a clinical reference group for the GM Health & Social Care Partnership Ageing Well Steering Group
- To ensure key vulnerable groups of people with specific needs are not left disadvantaged by new service offers as they are developed.
The group, which is administered by the Frailty Network, meets fortnightly.
If you would like to join the meetings, please contact Sarka.grayson@nhs.net.
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The Diabetes Network is holding 30-minute online sessions to give important updates to GPs, practice managers and health professionals on the online platform Diabetes My Way (DMW).
The free webinars will update people on the new data sharing process, which should make it easier to get patients signed-up to DMW, as well as go through the steps you have to take to get patients registered.
You will also be able to ask any questions you have on DMW.
DMW is free and allows patients to improve the way they self-manage their condition as well as find out more about it. They can watch videos on areas of diabetes which affect them as well as upload blood glucose readings.
There are seven sessions planned between now and the end of March. View more details.
A webinar is being held which explores genomics – the study of the body’s genes - its use in healthcare and the opportunities it brings for nurses, midwives and health visitors.
Called ‘From Niche to Necessity: The Northern Return’, the two-hour webinar on Tuesday, February 8 will not require any prior knowledge and is suitable for everyone, from novice to expert.
Click here for more information and to register.
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