10 May 2024 - Dr Amar Shah: Fostering an Improvement Culture

Dr Amar Shah will be providing an overview of the experiences of East London Foundation Trust in implementing a quality improvement approach in their service for the past 10 years.

East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) is a provider of community health, mental health, primary care, and specialist services in England to a population of approximately 1.7 million people across Bedfordshire, Luton, and East London.

ELFT has had over 10 years of experience with learning how to apply quality improvement throughout the organisation and embed a culture of improvement, in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Over this period, ELFT has seen gains across all areas of organisational performance: improvements in the most complex and frequent safety issues, such as physical violence on inpatient wards; better access and reduced waiting times in community services; and increased staff satisfaction and engagement. Services have become more productive and efficient, and the financial position has improved through cost avoidance, cost reduction, and growth based on the organisation’s reputation for quality.

Dr Amar Shah is Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist & Chief Quality Officer at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), the National Improvement Lead for Mental Health and Chair of the Quality Improvement Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, an improvement advisor and faculty member for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Leicester.