Applications for the NHS Innovation Accelerator are now open!
News
The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) – an NHS England initiative supported by England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and hosted at UCLPartners – has launched its call for applications representing high impact, evidence-based innovations. Successful applicants will become 2021 NIA Fellows. The call is open to local, national and international healthcare innovations supported by…
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Sharing learning from our QI Summer Series
News
During July and August 2020 the West of England Academy, aided by guest facilitators and speakers, held weekly Quality Improvement (QI) webinars. This season of learning, known as the QI Summer Series, was fully booked with a lengthy waiting list. We are also delighted to say the series received 100% positive feedback from attendees, no…
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The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) can be used to identify pre-hospital patients who are most unwell
News
The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) can help identify pre-hospital patients who are most unwell and is associated with a reduction in mortality in those patients admitted with a possible diagnosis of sepsis without increasing the overall number of admissions, according to a paper published in the BJGP.
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Calculating early warning scores before they reach hospital can help the sickest patients
News
Recording National Early Warning Scores (NEWS) when a patient is urgently referred to hospital can improve the process of care for the sickest patients and reduce the time taken to get to hospital, according to a West of England AHSN supported study funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) at the University of Bristol…
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Evidence-informed update to Emergency Department safety checklist toolkit
News
Evidence from NIHR CLAHRC West’s evaluation of the use of the Emergency Department (ED) Safety Checklist in hospitals in the West of England has been used to update the national toolkit. The toolkit, developed and hosted by the West of England AHSN, supports ED staff who are implementing the Safety Checklist. Hospital trusts have been…
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£9 million boost for health research in the West Country
News
Health researchers in the West Country have been given a £9 million award from the Government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to enable them to tackle the area’s most pressing health problems. The new funding will enable new research projects including forecasting demand in hospitals, increasing people’s physical activity levels, supporting people who…
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Driving sustainable, responsible and inclusive economic growth
Blog article
As well as being Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England and chair for the West of England AHSN, Professor Steve West chairs the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). Here Steve writes about how the LEP is working alongside authorities across the region to drive sustainable economic growth and improve health…
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Looking for the next big idea – Evidence into Practice
News
Do you have an evidence-based idea to change clinical practice? Then apply to our Evidence into Practice Challenge, an open call to healthcare professionals and researchers in the West of England.
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Reducing antibiotic prescriptions in primary care
News
The journal BMJ Open Quality has recently published a paper written by one of our GP Clinical Evidence Fellows, Dr Caroline Ward. Dr Ward’s research seeks to tackle the problem of antibiotic over-prescribing.
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The Usual Suspects: ways to widen involvement in service improvement
Blog article
Hildegard Dumper, West of England AHSN PPI Manager, reflects on ways to widen involvement and participation in service improvement. This story is a composite drawn from real events with names and identifiable features changed. Pamela came out of the COPD Steering Group meeting the other day feeling really upset, and determined to leave the project.…
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