Sherena is a Geriatric Registrar by training who took a year out to pursue a Leadership Fellowship with the Improvement Academy in July 2014.

Her professional interests are frailty and developing general surgical liaison services. Sherena worked on testing out the Frailty Index that had been recently developed by the Healthy Ageing Collaborative. Other projects included evaluating pathways to reduce unplanned hospital readmissions in the elderly and supporting better end-of-life care decisions on a surgical ward by using quality improvement methodology. Through this fellowship, Sherena gained experience in problem-solving challenging issues, involving relevant teams, understanding the importance of collaboration and public engagement to make valuable changes.

Sherena left the Improvement Academy in July 2015.

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

Undertaking a Leadership Fellowship in 2014/15 exposed me to the horizons of quality improvement including the underpinning theory required to embrace and champion improvement in a practical setting. This year has also broadened my critical thinking skills of healthcare issues in general, and sincerely considering pertinent questions that are both relevant and necessary for the future of the NHS. It has strengthened my convictions about the importance of patient safety although this important concept continues to be relegated because of competing priorities in many clinical settings. While my confidence has improved and my ambition has grown, this last year has also taught me about the need for honesty, transparency and humility.

The last 12 months has provided me a snapshot of my journey – of where I was before I started, where I am now and where I would like to go. It has given me direction and focus to work towards an aim, one that will hopefully propel me towards a quest to continuously improve myself in all aspects of my professional and personal life. My hope is to secure a leadership role in the future, whether as a lead clinician in the department or in other areas such as education or governance but this will obviously be driven by the opportunities that arise in my career path.