Sarah: The Resilience in healthcare Keynote, moving from buzzword to real change. As someone who supports a pressured sector of healthcare, children's mental health, it was impactful to see humour used to demonstrate the pressures to deliver good healthcare. Including self-care. The benefit of seeing the pressures impacting resilience meant it was clear to see where the QI impacts could be. A fantastic reminder that we need to take care of our workforces to enable them to deliver change and improvements for our patients. 

What will you share with your team? 

Nickie:  In my new role as an Improvement Advisor within the QI team, I will be applying some strategies when supporting teams with QI projects to help drive meaningful improvements in patient care, sustainability and overall healthcare quality. 

Alex: The impact of good co-production has on change management and the need to involve all from the very beginning, not halfway through. 

Deiann:  I will focus on sharing the key actionable takeaways, things that can make a real difference: 

Ashley: I hope to share the inspiration, even if it is not quantifiable. My service has been running on a similar set up for decades, and we are looking at a tumultuous time ahead of us all, as many other services also do. Hopefully my reflections and experiences can inspire my team to band together and focus on improving the quality of our already amazing service! I also want to share the concept of ‘mango moments’ with my team. We provide prosthetics to amputees or limb different individuals, which can be a life changing experience and I know we are all proud to work here. But the little things (the mangos or equivalent gestures) may start a great paradigm shift here. We are not just healthcare staff providing an amazing service, we are humans providing an amazing service.  

Sarah: I attended the advancing population health and equity: collective leadership and quality improvement in action session. NHS Horizons presented an excellent piece of work on reducing neurodivergent diagnostic waiting times. I was able to exchange contact details with the presenter for the session. Even better, we got to experience a system of change model that I will definitely be using in my work, particularly looking at the ‘Mental Models’ in play when scoping and tackling QI challenges. I can see this model working very well within Children’s Mental Health. I will also continue to champion the lived experience agenda and the significance of patient voice within QI work 

Has your experience influenced anything you/your team might do more of or something you may stop? 

Nickie: To be able to attend this conference as I am about to embark on my QI career path was invaluable for me. It enabled me to not only be able to learn from my QI colleagues at NELFT, but to learn so much from many amazing experts in the QI field all working towards the same goal. I was able to make some fantastic connections with healthcare professionals from all different organisations, and I am looking forward to sharing ideas and strategies to drive positive change. 

Alex: I will definitely think more over I phrase questions to others and will be more in the way of a ‘what’ question – one of the keys what questions mentioned in most talks was ‘what matters to me’ 

Deiann:  I would like to see us doing more:

• Active service user collaboration: Seeing how successful co-designed healthcare solutions can be, we’d focus on deeper engagement with service users to ensure their voices shape future initiatives.
• Embedding equity into every project: The conference reinforced that equity shouldn’t be a separate consideration—it should be part of every improvement strategy. 

I will encourage us to reconsider the:  

• One-size-fits-all approaches: The case studies showed how targeted interventions work best, meaning we’d rethink any strategies that don’t account for diverse patient needs.
• Relying solely on traditional data metrics: With a stronger push toward patient-led insights, we’d ensure qualitative experiences are valued alongside quantitative data.
• Working in silos: The emphasis on cross-sector collaboration showed that transformative change happens when policymakers, technologists, and healthcare professionals unite. 

 Ashley: I will be taking forwards (and doing more) reflecting and testing; the plan/study/do/act was something introduced through the ‘make good days at work’ project, but I have learned that it can be such a multifaceted application in our day-to-day work. I will also echo the emphasis on having good clinician and patient relationships, making sure my service and our care is evidence-based and patient centred to our best abilities. I feel very inspired, and I will use all the inspiration gained to help develop myself and my career. 

Sarah: I will definitely be looking more widely than National models of good practice and success, following some excellent international networking opportunities. There is a temptation to look at neighbouring Trusts and Authorities in the UK when scoping best practice, but the conference demonstrated that, although funding and infrastructures may differ, approaches can still contain relevant and innovative learning that can and should be considered. 

 Any other comments/feedback? 

Deiann: The BMJ Conference in Utrecht reinforced the power of turning ideas into action. It highlighted that meaningful healthcare improvement isn’t just about recognising challenges — it’s about finding practical ways to solve them.

• One shift in perspective for me was the emphasis on co-designing solutions with service users. The most impactful strategies weren’t developed in isolation; they involved patients, communities, and frontline professionals working together. It showed how lived experience is as valuable as data in shaping better healthcare.
• Another key takeaway was the need to embed health equity into every aspect of quality improvement—not as a separate initiative but as a fundamental principle. The strategies that worked best weren’t broad, one-size-fits-all approaches but tailored interventions designed for specific communities.
• The conference reaffirmed that real change comes from cross-sector collaboration, service user involvement, and action-oriented thinking. Listen, Listen, Listen, hear what patients and family are saying.