Kay Sharp - Head of Strategy & Training

Q1: How long have you been working with the Quality Academy team?

Six years.  I joined the QA Team in February 2017 with the specific role of Programme Manager for the Agency Spend Reduction Programme.  I was additionally asked to manage the programme to roll out eRostering to all medics later that year.

Q2: What other experience have you had working in the NHS?

I started work in the NHS in February 2015 as the Project Manager for Cancer Services responsible for the Living With and Beyond Cancer Programme.  As part of this programme I worked with clinical and support teams to implement a number of improvements to help support patients and families who are living with, and beyond, cancer.  (These included health and wellbeing clinics, new pathways and larger systems changes.)

Prior to this time I have 16 years of post-graduate experience, predominantly in Change Management, including 9 years as a Management consultant for Accenture, 6 years in senior delivery roles in Financial Services and 6 years running my own Pilates business.  I have worked in both business and IT roles.

Q3: Can you list your relevant qualifications:

  • I have an Engineering Degree (BEng Engineering Science and Technology)
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner
  • MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Practitioner
  • Lean 6 Sigma yellow belt

Q4: What do you enjoy most about Improvement Practice or working with the QA team?

I have always enjoyed the challenge of managing and working with teams to deliver change and make a difference, be it a small scale improvement or large projects or programmes.  Working in the NHS has afforded me the additional reward that the results of that change can have a real and worthwhile impact on staff, patients and their families.

Q5: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the NHS in the next 5 years?

I believe the main challenge facing the NHS is the increasing demand for its services against a backdrop of perpetual financial challenge and national staff shortage in key staff groups.  There is hence a requirement to consider how we can work in a different way in order to respond to these challenges including how we utilise staff, technology and information as effectively as possible.

Q6: What work have you been involved in recently, and what work are you most proud of?

In addition to managing the Agency Spend programme and a programme to rollout eRostering to all medical areas, I have more recently been asked to drive the implementation of a new locum bank system for medics.  This was implemented as a pilot across all junior grade doctors in January 2019.

A piece of work that I am proud of was the selection and introduction of a Remote Monitoring System for colorectal cancer follow-up.   In a time of financial austerity, I secured charitable monies to fund the implementation and ensured that the software chosen was future-proofed so it could be used to support follow-up in other speciality areas and in conjunction with patient portal technology.  Changing the nature of follow-up for our patients is something I am particularly interested in; if it is done correctly, it could have an exciting impact on the capacity available to see and treat new patients.

Q7: What are your aspirations for the organisation, in terms of improvement practice, over the next two or so years?

My aspiration for the organisation is that we are able to achieve a shift in culture towards improvement, and afford our staff enough time and the right support to enable them to make the improvements they know will make a difference.

With a particular interest in larger projects and programmes, I additionally think we should aspire to an agreed and joined up strategy/roadmap for our information technology.  We can then be confident that investment decisions on new technology are made wisely and fit with the current and future needs of the organisation.

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