Helen Crump

'The 'targets and terror' regime used by Labour in the 2000s was backed by substantial increases in NHS funding. But the health service has no such luck this time around.' Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy at the Health Foundation

Responding to the introduction of quarterly rankings for NHS trusts in England, @hughalderwick.bsky.social​ says the new ratings need to support struggling organisations to improve, rather than being another tool for top-down control and performance management.

Read more⬇️

https://bit.ly/4m5oDrW

In this final episode of the Listen to THIS podcast, @instagraham.bsky.social and @taralamont.bsky.social reflect on the insights shared on healthcare improvement – from clinical research to data science, critical care to anthropology, design and more.

🎥Watch or listen ths.im/4jCVeUZ

South London Press closes down after 160 years covering UK capital Independent local newspaper the South London Press has abruptly closed down after 160 years as it goes into insolvency proceedings.

Bad news. Local papers get attention as a source of daft stories - the disappearance of the 'boring' local government stuff is less immediately obvious but hugely significant in terms of reduced scrutiny. Most national stories start off as local stories
pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/r...

Three healthcare professionals in scrubs collaborate around a glass wall covered in colourful sticky notes.

Are you an NHS healthcare professional? Have you taken part in a quality improvement project? We’re running a short survey to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what could be done better. Certificates of participation offered. Share your experiences here ths.im/3YPIvXz

Ultra Women : The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport Ultra Women : The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport (Paperback / softback) (9781914487101)

Hurrah Ultra Women is now back in stock at Hive! Walked past my local bookshop today to see the pile of copies had somewhat shrunk. Turns out people do want to read about incredible female athletes. Quick get yours before they go again! @lilycanter.bsky.social www.hive.co.uk/Product/Lily...

This is answering a slightly different question, but Dorset has done some interesting work using data to drive asthma meds optimisation and then saw reduced ED visits for asthma (p.2 below)

understandingpatientdata.org.uk/sites/defaul...

Loving all the queries to @lilycanter.bsky.social and I on where to get the Ultra Women book that's not Amazon! The answer is you can find it in local bookshops (or if not they will order it in for you), Waterstones has it or Bookshop.org, Hive has already sold out but will be ordering more 💪

RCP position statement on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, 9th May 2025

Seems to me that a lot can be read between the lines of this very clear position statement:

www.rcp.ac.uk/policy-and-c...

My book Ultra Women written with @emmajourno.bsky.social is out today. We were originally told that men wouldn't buy this book so there was no market for it (as apparently women don't buy sports books!!!) - we desperately want to prove that marketing person wrong!
www.amazon.co.uk/Ultra-Women-...

Why is it so hard to do less in healthcare?

I’m excited to share a podcast I took part in for THIS institute, we discuss why it’s so hard to do less in healthcare.You can find it on Spotify, Apple Poscast or Amazon music. Just search ‘listen to THIS’ I’m episode 6. Or here’s the link to the website www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/podcast/why-...

The British state is in crisis unable to meet demands that are placed on it. At the heart of this legitimacy crisis is the Reform Party and its signature: Brexit.

Now Reform is simply allowed to reap the fallout: cuts, decay, alienation.

When is Labour going to break the conspiracy of silence?

Five principles for supporting peer learning for system improvement 1. Maximise and build on existing structures • Lean on your local improvement networks to convene peer learning spaces and networks for people to connect, learn from and support each other. 2. Co-develop shared intentions, behaviours and expectations • Set clear expectations about what the programme is about, who it is for and how participants will be expected to participate. • Identify the skills, experience and development needs of participants and bring in necessary expertise, such as skilled facilitators. 3. Reflect the diversity of the system in your peer learning circle • Ensure your peer learning networks include all stakeholders and sectors. • Cultivate a shared understanding of key ideas and approaches. • Appreciate and value different perspectives to mitigate hierarchies between system partners. 4. Support relationship building and build in time for reflection • Short drop-in sessions are useful for knowledge sharing while in-depth activities will promote longer-term relationship building. • Take the time to create a sense of community and help connect peers. • Allow space for individual reflection and reflective conversations. 5. Model an improvement approach • Take an iterative, improvement mindset to peer learning. Seek out feedback and make informed changes to ensure all needs are met. This will help peers feel valued, and make engagement more sustainable. Q, The Health Foundation, NHS Confederation

More than 150 health and care leaders have shared their views on the importance of peer learning opportunities to help enhance leadership and develop system-wide improvement programmes for health and care services.

Read more in our latest report and infographic: www.nhsconfed.org/system-impro...

Enjoyed chairing a session on reducing inappropriate out of area placements at @nhsconfed.org 's Mental Health Network annual conference today. Great analysis of challenges and opportunities for improvement from participants, plus interesting insights into doing complex QI work in MH. Thanks all!

Reminds me that I once asked @sonialivingstone.bsky.social what area of public policy we could learn from when thinking about digital life and her answer was ‘town planning’

I love that!

This echoes a clear theme in my research: there can sometimes be an imperative to present a project as a success, which then makes it harder to learn from an inconclusive or unsuccessful finding. Inconclusive findings are just as important as successes, as is learning why something didn't go to plan

A white circle on top of red concentric circles, Listen to THIS logo with words Podcast episode 4 Improving critical care with lessons from the pandemic. Left hand corner Spotify and Apple podcasts logos

In this episode of Listen to THIS @taralamont.bsky.social talks to @jomcpeake.bsky.social, Debbie Clark and @a-driessen.bsky.social to understand how we can balance care that follows protocols and is responsive to patient needs in critical care environments. Listen now ths.im/4cmN6WA

A recent breakthrough from @mayoclinic.org researchers offers new hope. Using the world’s largest imaging dataset, Mayo Clinic's team has developed a cutting-edge AI model capable of detecting #pancreaticcancer on standard CT scans—when #surgery is still an option: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJ5...

New report from UK Healthcare Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB): People with long term conditions are being harmed because care is fragmented and care coordinator roles are suboptimal. #healthpolicy #medsky

www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safe...

Great thread exploring implications of NHSE abolition. I think it goes without saying that a rethink of the regions'/systems' role is also a crucial part of this, as well as answering some fundamental questions about what assurance and performance management should mean in the new context

Graphic with the Listen to THIS podcast logo on a white and background. Podcast episode 3: Relationship building in interdisciplinary working and teams

The challenges of integrated working and what makes successful integration are well known. But day to day, how do interdisciplinary teams work towards developing good culture and trust, belonging and connection within healthcare?

Listen to episode 3 of Listen to THIS: ths.im/42a1o8r

Completely agree. The added irony is that secondary schools seem to have embraced using apps to administer everything from homework schedules to extracurricular activities, which is great, except when you've banned smartphones!

Do we know enough about what makes teams work well across services and organisations? @taralamont.bsky.social is joined by #THISFellows Sarah Yardley, Jenelle Clarke & Justin Waring to explore building relationships across interdisciplinary teams within healthcare. Listen now ths.im/420rdHU

This one's a cracker, and got a great shout-out in this week's HSJ Patient Safety Watch.

Representing @nationalvoices.bsky.social members today @commonshealth.bsky.social on NHSE abolishment’s and ICB cuts - real opp to refocus on patient exp in restructure - bringing back PE directorate& PE accountability at ICB board level, using national patient surveys to drive improvement 1/2

Listen to THIS logo on a white background with red circles around the right edge. Titles: Podcast episode 2 Learning from failure. Spotify and Apple podcast logos in grey below.

In episode 2 of Listen to THIS, @instagraham.bsky.social, @janekohara.bsky.social and #THISFellows @helencrump.bsky.social and James McGowan share valuable insights gained from when things go right and when they go wrong in healthcare. Listen now ths.im/3ReZmyC

Open repositories cannot ignore retractions and corrections - Impact of Social Sciences Repositories for academic papers often do not reflect retractions and corrections to published papers, can this be resolved?

👀ICYMI: "Readers should know immediately if they are consulting content that is identical to the published (and possibly retracted) version"

@freddie2310.bsky.social on open repositories and retracted research.

#ScholComm #ResearchEthics

Learning from mistakes is a crucial part of healthcare improvement and it’s easy to focus on negatives. But are we hindering progress? @instagraham.bsky.social, @janekohara.bsky.social & #THISFellows @helencrump.bsky.social & James McGowan discuss in a new episode of Listen to THIS ths.im/4hnAGyu

THIS Institute's new podcast featuring fellows talking about their research is here! Looking forward to listening to this episode

Balancing pressures of time, capacity & urgent patient needs: in this episode @kristinawk.bsky.social & #THISFellows Georgia Black, Sean Manzi & Patrick Burch discuss the impact of increasing access to primary care & changing how pathways are navigated. Listen now https://ths.im/4gPvuDq