Dr Emma Ryland is a Geriatric Registrar who took year out of her regular training work as a Clinical Leadership Fellow with the Improvement Academy.

Emma joined the Improvement Academy in July 2014 and was involved in a range of quality improvement and patient safety projects within Yorkshire and Humber region, including:

• Mortality Case note review and Case note review for quality and safety
• Patient flow with a ‘plan for every patient’, reviewing the process a patient moves through a hospital using LEAN methodology
• Air quality collaborative: Raising awareness of the health impact of air pollution
• Assessing the impact of a discharge to assess model on an acute frailty unit
• Putting together a package on Patient and Public Engagement in Improvement Projects

She aimed to understand how to develop quality and service improvement projects, put these into action and evaluate the results.

Emma left the Improvement Academy in July 2015.

Emma shared some reflections at the end of her year working with the Improvement Academy as a Clinical Leadership Fellow:

This year was an opportunity to fully immerse myself in patient safety, quality improvement and leadership initiatives. I gained understanding required for anyone aspiring to be a healthcare leader, such as how safety culture is developed, measured and maintained. I was exposed to, interacted with and learnt from many leaders in different healthcare organisations and contexts. I have through this gained confidence in my own leadership abilities and I cannot emphasise enough the importance of us as clinicians taking on leadership roles within our places of work and within the management structure of the NHS to ensure that service design and development happens with patient care at the core. Since returning to clinical practice I have been more aware of where systems are helping teams to work well together and where improvements can be made. I have also been asked to be involved in service redesign meetings, quality improvement projects and a national society committee where I have been able to give advice and provide a level of “expertise” gained through this programme.