Trust Innovations Group
Trust Innovation Group (TIG) is our in-house support service, helping people and organisations to continuously improve the quality of the services they provide. We draw upon the experience gained as founding members of the North East Transformation System (NETS) since 2007, and on the expertise of the many clinical and corporate services in our Trust.
Innovation is at the heart of the NHS and Trust Innovation Group offers a wealth of specialist expertise and experience to influence, support and manage transformational change at a regional, national and international level. The team has significant experience in delivering transformation both within our Trust and more widely, supporting NHS providers and commissioners, charities and the independent sector.
The team
The Trust Innovation Group has a core team of highly experienced individuals, based at St Nicholas Hospital in Newcastle. The team can also draw on the expertise of a network of national and international experts in mental health from CNTW and other NHS Trusts.
The team’s professional project management qualifications include Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, PRINCE2, MSP and multiple certifications in improvement methodologies.
View our team biographies page here with more information about our team’s experience and qualifications.
What we do
Delivering our vision and strategy, continuously improving our services
In supporting the delivery of the Trust’s Strategy, With You in Mind, a number of improvement projects are underway across inpatient, community and crisis services, all linked together to promote seamless, effective care. Find more information on Model of Care, Quality Priorities, and Transformation programme description here.
Quality Improvement training and coaching
Quality Improvement (Qi) is a way of testing ideas and making practical changes to the way services work, with the goal of improving patient care in a measurable and meaningful way.
Qi support in CNTW is available to staff in a number of ways. The team delivers training, providing practical skills and tools to individuals, who then lead their team through a local improvement project. Facilitation of these individual Qi projects by TIG staff can also help teams release some of their time which they can reinvest back into further training, if time is a challenge at the start. Support and mentoring is available to all staff who are involved in training or a Qi project, and these smaller projects are linked to the Trustwide, more strategic improvement work, to ensure good practice is shared and spread across the Trust.
Qi approaches have been used to improve a wide range of smaller challenges including lengthy admin processes, organising assessment equipment, and making peer support referrals. As an example, the admin team working in the Northern Region Gender Dysphoria Service attended Qi training. They were shown how to use process mapping techniques to understand why their post-assessment letters were taking an average of 49 days to reach patients. They then used other Qi tools to gather and test ideas from their team mates and, by focussing on the most effective ideas, created an improved process which reduced the average from 49 to 7 days. View a presentation describing their project in more detail here.
Contact Trust Innovation Group
To speak to a member of the Trust Innovation Group:
Email [email protected] or call 0191 2467211 (or +44 191 2467211 if calling from outside the United Kingdom).
The Trust Innovation Group’s offices are open from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, please leave a message and one of the team will call you back as soon as possible.
The team’s full postal address is:
Trust Innovation Office
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
St Nicholas Hospital
Jubilee Road
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 3XT