Embedding Excellence at BTHFT through the Quality Lead for Nursing Excellence role

by Amy Hunter & Sally Scales, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, UK.

BRI's new entrance

The Quality Lead for Nursing Excellence role was developed at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to facilitate the advancement of Magnet® principles, and the embedding of the new Nursing & Midwifery Strategy within the Trust.

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Sally Scales

Working with Sally Scales, Director of Nursing, Programme Lead for Magnet®, the Quality Lead role was designed to advance the work being undertaken as part of the Magnet4Europe programme. The Quality Lead role was advertised in January 2022, and Amy Hunter took up post in May 2022.

​Amy’s background in nursing education & qualitative research lent themselves well to the position. Working on site Monday to Friday, Amy spends time with practice areas developing professional relationships, to support understanding and implementation of Nursing and Midwifery Strategy goals, which were informed by the M4E gap analysis and action plan. Using the M4E survey as a catalyst, Amy spent time in in-patient areas speaking with staff about their recent experiences, as well as encouraging staff to take the opportunity to undertake the survey. Understanding more about the context of nursing care within the Trust has enabled Amy to develop specific and relevant resources to support the development of unit councils. As the unit council pilot continues, Amy will provide practical support and signposting for the councils. She has also begun to embed new evidence into practice, using the stories of lived-experience to ensure that nurses are at the forefront of decision-making and implementation. Existing academic networks, particularly at the Bradford Institute of Health Research, have strengthened advancement of Magnet® principles within the key areas of new knowledge, innovation & technology and exemplary professional practice.

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Amy Hunter

Amy will facilitate implementation of the Professional Practice Model. A process for developing the model has been designed with the Achieving Nursing & Midwifery Excellence Shared Governance Council which will empower staff to engage with the development. The process is informed by qualitative research methods, and will enable a Trust-specific model to be created which is meaningful and relevant.

The Quality Lead role will take line management responsibility for the NHS Graduate Management Trainee (GMT) within the Chief Nurse Team and already leads the implementation of Professional Nurse Associate (PNA) within the Trust. The specifics of the GMT and PNA roles have been designed with structural empowerment and empirical outcomes as their drivers. Where relevant, Amy has cross-referenced existing NHS policy and development goals within the Trust to avoid replication and enhance Trust-wide (as well as nursing/midwifery-specific) implementation.

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The Quality Lead for Nursing Excellence role has already proved invaluable. In conjunction with the Director of Nursing Programme Lead for Magnet, the Quality Lead has ensured that the priorities for Magnet® implementation are being met in a timely and appropriate manner, and has been able to provide a dedicated resource that is focused on delivery of nursing and midwifery excellence.