NNUH Consultant appointed to lead national programme
A Consultant from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has been appointed as a national lead to an NHS programme which aims to improve care across the health service.
Dr Nick Levell, a Consultant Dermatologist at NNUH will lead the Dermatology workstream for the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) initiative. Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national programme designed to improve care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. By tackling variations in the way services are delivered across the NHS, and by sharing best practice between trusts, GIRFT identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes, as well as delivering efficiencies.
A leader in his specialty, Nick is currently President of the British Association of Dermatologists, is the National Specialty Lead (Dermatology) for the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and is a widely published author on many aspects of healthcare including the health economy. He was selected following a rigorous recruitment and interview process and will be supported on the project by dermatology specialists from across the country alongside dedicated statisticians.
Dr Levell said: “I am delighted to be joining the GIRFT team: this is an exciting opportunity to help hospitals around the country share best practice.”
The GIRFT programme uses a collaborative and constructive methodology with expert clinicians working together to share best practice and drive improvements in patient care.
For the dermatology specialty, Nick and the team will be looking in more detail into the availability of treatments and the use of different surgical procedures and medications in treatments of common dermatological conditions.
Dr Levell takes up his new role this month and this will see him dedicate two days per week over the next two years to delivering the programme.
Over the course of the initiative, Nick and the GIRFT team will be visiting dermatology departments within more than 130 Trusts across the country to understand differences between departments and identify examples of best practice using detailed reports of Trust data. The programme will evaluate both NHS Trusts and private providers of care to maximise collaboration and potential benefits.
The project will culminate in a national report being produced for the dermatology specialty, detailing recommendations to improve care and patient outcomes, as well as highlighting examples of good practice.
Dr Levell added: “The longer term vision is that through engaging clinicians across the country in shared data and practices, we can standardise care for patients and ensure that resources are allocated where the most benefits are realised. As a result, we can effectively engage doctors in developing the NHS for the future.”
Mark Davies, NNUH Chief Executive, said: “I’d like to congratulate Nick on his appointment to this prestigious position. The GIRFT programme is a fantastic example of a clinically-led programme, underpinned by collaboration, which will drive improvements for the benefit of our patients.”
Professor Tim Briggs, Chair of GIRFT and National Director of Clinical Quality and Efficiency at NHS Improvement, said: “I am delighted that we have attracted another high calibre group of extremely experienced and enthusiastic clinical leads into the GIRFT programme.
“The fact that each workstream is led by an expert in the speciality is a vital part of the GIRFT methodology, because it means trust clinicians know they are dealing with people who really understand the challenges they face.”
Notes to editors:
The GIRFT programme is delivered jointly by NHS Improvement, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust which hosted the first pilot review of orthopaedic surgery.