Introducing our new ARC EoE Implementation Lead: Dr. Sarah Robinson, Eastern AHSN Director of Delivery
As a result of new ways of working to support health and social care colleagues respond to the Covid pandemic and new national funding there are now closer working relationships between Eastern AHSN and ARC East of England. The changes have offered an opportunity for the ARC East of England to refresh its implementation strategy and for Eastern AHSN to meet the growing need for evaluations partly due to the volume of unevaluated innovation that has taken place in response to Covid-19.
The shared projects resulting from the Beneficial Change Network and NHS Insights Prioritisation Programme have been a vehicle for expediating this vision and during 2021 we have strengthened the working relationships both at strategic and operational levels. These national programmes have provided funding opportunities that both organisations have benefited from in developing this greater collaboration.
Both organisations are committed to continued working together flexibly to meet the needs of our health and social care partners – which is also the direction being set out by our national commissioners: the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and NHS England.
Next steps
Building on the legacy work of ARC Implementation Leads, John Gabbay and Andrée le May, Eastern AHSN Director of Delivery, Sarah Robinson will be the ARC East of England Implementation Lead from April 2022. This will support the new commitment for increased collaboration and support the ARC to consider its implementation strategy moving forwards.
Within the next 6 months we are developing an agreed approach to supporting and increasing the capacity within the East of England with regards to evaluation and implementation. This will include agreeing a coherent system for the two organisations to work together including (but not limited to):
- A transparent process to request support from either organisation.
- A systematic way to keep both organisations abreast of activity.
- Identification of key meetings to attend internally and across the region to inform of ongoing activity.
- Linking both organisations into the Health Foundation Innovation Hub.
We aspire (re-licensing pending) to:
- Increase flexibility of ARC university partners to respond to rapid requests for support in research and evaluation from health and social care partners. • Identify and work jointly on regional challenges.
- Increase the capacity and capability of evaluation, research, and implementation expertise within university and health and social care providers in the East of England
Watch this video to hear more about Eastern AHSN and how we can support implementation: