TSNews July 2013 - Agents for Change

On Friday 28 June 2013, the fifth annual ‘Agents for Change’ conference took place at BMA house. It is the only national conference for junior doctors on improving patient safety and the quality of healthcare.

The programme included inspiring keynotes from speakers such as Robert Francis and Sir Bruce Keogh, interspersed with interactive workshops led by organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of Physicians.

FMLM was asked to lead its own workshop in the afternoon. Organised by Nishma Manek from the Trainee Steering Group (TSG) Events Committee and Lola Loewenthal, TSG chair and FMLM clinical fellow, the session was entitled ‘Leading change in healthcare: a practical guide’. It was the first workshop of the programme to fill its spaces far in advance, and was very well received by those who attended.

Jon Cardy, a consultant intensivist and recent winner of the BMJ ‘Clinical Leader of the Year’ award, told his inspiring story of the dramatic transformation achieved by the West Suffolk Accident and Emergency department. Trainees were then asked to discuss their own ideas for leading a quality improvement (QI) project in their hospitals and offered practical advice on initiating these; they also learnt how to overcome potential barriers. Many of the participants came away saying they felt more aware of the importance of leading a QI initiative in the wake of the Francis report regardless of their stage of training, and had a better grasp of the practical implications of doing so.

Nishma Manek, FMLM Trainee Steering Group.