Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership
Anthony McKeever, Executive Lead and Joint Accountable Officer, on why the Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership engage clinical fellow alumni with their work.
Our Integrated Care System (ICS) in Mid & South Essex wants to harness the talents of clinical leaders. We have therefore brought three of FMLM’s Clinical Fellow Aumni in to work with us for the last 12 months, to help translate our good intentions into purposeful action.
Peter Scolding , Sophia Morris and Garry Davenport had spent the previous year on the National Medical Director’s and Chief Dental Officer’s Clinical Fellow Schemes, working alongside Prof Keith Willetts, Prof Sara Hurley and others, co-ordinating the NHS’ pandemic response.
So, we acquired seasoned professionals, already used to all manner of three-letter acronyms, to navigating and motoring within the channels of health and care services, who could and did hit the ground running – not just energetic young doctors and dentists keen to make a difference. I am pleased to say the experiment turned out well. Our three fellows have provided a shot in the arm for the teams and care areas in which they have worked. Each one has led specific areas of work which benefitted from their skills and perspective.
Peter Scolding has enabled clinical and multi-professional collaboration in developing and delivering new models of stroke and frailty services in the community. Sophia Morris has been helping refine our System’s strategic approach to tackling inequalities, both within our workforce and across our wider resident population. Garry Davenport has worked to improve cancer diagnosis in the community, and has also provided clinical support to our Population Health Management programme.
They have all contributed to one of our Partnership’s signature principles - engaging current and future clinical leaders, on a multi-disciplinary basis, in taking responsibility and leading change to improve the care area in which they work.
In short, we have all started as we mean to go on. Our Senior Clinical Fellows have had an opportunity to apply their learning and experience from the national scheme, and to kick on again through picking-up greater ownership and responsibility, alongside closer mentoring and support; and the ICS has got a fabulous payback for investing in what it wants to become.
August 2021