Cath Heaney
Catherine Heaney is an Improvement Advisor and QI Coach in the Quality Improvement department supporting our Specialist Services directorate: Addictions, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Primary Care & Specialist Psychological Services (also known as IAPT) and Specialist Child & Young Person Services (SCYPS).
Cath joined the Trust in December 2019, following 19 years in the NHS. She has worked in a range of health and care settings, including primary, community and hospital based, as well as a whole-systems role in a newly-formed Integrated Care Partnership in 2019. The focus of her experience is in Quality Improvement and Organisational Development, enabling people to transform the systems in which they work; through a blend of mentoring, coaching, facilitation and teaching improvement skills.
Cath is an alumnus of Royal Holloway, University of London (BSc Hons in Psychology) and Roffey Park Institute (Organisational Development Practitioner). With a passion in helping people to lead change, she is an accredited Mentoring Practitioner (EMCC), Healthcare Leadership Model 360 degree feedback facilitator, an MBTI step 1 practitioner and a team-based working coach (with Affina OD).
Cath’s goal is to make a difference for those who run and those who use our NHS services; by enabling them to develop their knowledge, skills and experience in quality improvement and working together.
An Improvement Advisor role involves:
- Extra support for those projects working
on one of the Trust priority workstreams - Expertise in improvement methods and tools
Their responsibilities are:
- Attending and help coordinate the monthly directorate QI forums
- Teaching staff and service users & carers in improvement methods and tools
- Strategic support for directorate in defining improvement priorities, aligning QI work, building capability
- Regular supervision sessions in each directorate with QI coaches
- Alert clinical/service director and sponsors of projects that are not progressing or where support structure is weak
A QI Coach role involves:
- Coaching QI teams within directorates, meeting with the team regularly
- Deeper knowledge of improvement methods and tools
Their responsibilities are:
- Help engage people and teams in QI
- Support project teams to develop ideas and strategy, using QI tools, and advise on how to complete project documentation
- Support project teams in using QI methodology, including PDSA cycles and data over time
- Provide monthly update on team progress to sponsor
- Teach and explain use of QI tools and methods
- Attend supervision with QI lead
