Hello – my name is Susanne Harkness and I am an Improvement Facilitator in the Newcastle Improvement team. Our role is to support improvement in the Trust.
Improvement is really just change that makes things better for patients and for staff.
We support improvement by working with teams and use an approach that is based on improvement methodology.
My career at Newcastle Hospitals began when I joined as a newly qualified rotational Physiotherapist in 2010 subsequently specialising in respiratory in 2013.
My journey into NHS Improvement
I actively sought out opportunities to improve my knowledge and skills both clinically and in areas such as leadership and Quality Improvement (QI).
I completed an MSc in 2020 and applied for the Trust’s first improvement coach programme in collaboration with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in 2021.
Service improvement is very much encouraged at every level in therapies and so I felt I had a good basic knowledge. I was looking for a new challenge in my career and a position with the Newcastle Improvement team seemed like a perfect fit.
Why I love my job
Working in QI allows me to ‘geek out’ with people wanting to improve the services that they work in for both the staff and the patients.
I meet with people either on a one-to-one basis, or in a team and help to coach them through a QI process. It’s great to see people feel able to make changes in the areas that they work in and take pride in what they’ve achieved.
We also provide QI training throughout the Trust and it’s nice to help people understand that QI doesn’t have to be a complex, arduous process.
The opportunity has also given me huge insight into how services work together to provide healthcare at a system level.
Contact us
QI is much easier and less scary that what you might think.
If you’d like any help and support with a project, even just a one-off conversation to help you make a clear plan, then get it touch with the Newcastle Improvement Team.
