Our first Spread Academy is set to equip teams and leaders in health and care with the skills they need to unleash large-scale change

The South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) is excited to be running its first Spread Academy in Exeter from 4-7 March 2019. The four-day tailored learning programme, delivered by the Billions Institute and supported by the SW AHSN’s faculty of skilled staff and partners, is designed to provide change makers with the skills and confidence they need to orchestrate change in health and social care.

Following a competitive application process in 2018, the SW AHSN offered funded places to people working on large-scale change in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, and Somerset. Self-funded places on the programme were also available to individuals and teams working on the spread and adoption of a significant innovation or service improvement with a focus on achieving scale outside of the South West of England.

The Spread Academy, part of the SW AHSN’s Innovation Exchange programme, is based on the Billions Institute’s highly influential and successful Skid Row School, a week-long learning experience led by a team of instructors, coaches and mentors. In late 2018, the SW AHSN selected seven Spread Academy Fellows, each working to improve population health in the South West, to attend the Skid Row School. The fellows, listed below, are supporting the delivery of the Spread Academy in the UK and we will be working closely with them over the coming year.

2019 SKID ROW FELLOWS

  • Alistair Lockwood, St Austell Healthcare
  • Catherine Holmes, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
  • Frances Tippett, NHS England
  • Helen Davies-Cox, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
  • Helen Smith, Devon Partnership Trust
  • Jeremy Martin, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Sarah Robens, South West Academic Health Science Network.

For more information about the Spread Academy please visit the website, or contact Rupa Chilvers or William Lilley on 01392 247903 or innovation@swahsn.com.