E7: Spreading improvement: the when, how and who


Wednesday 22 June 2022 | 13:15-14:30


Format: Workshop
Stream: Improvement Methods
Content filters: Includes examples of using technology to enable change


Health care is full of fantastic innovation and improvements. The challenge is how to spread these pockets of brilliance. In February 2020, Scotland’s Near Me video consulting service was being used for around 200 consultations a week. A 12-week national scale up programme started in March. By May, Near Me was being used for 16,000 consultations a week, reaching 20,000 shortly after. This fast-paced national scale up of Near Me meant patients could still access care during the Covid-19 pandemic, health professionals who were shielding could continue to work, and it delivered an impressive carbon saving of 28 million miles a year or 1,123 trips around the Earth. This session will explore the spread journey and how quality improvement underpinned every step.

After this session, participants will be able to:



  • Describe how continuous co-design with patients, professionals and populations is essential to the successful spread and embedding of a service

  • Identify the essential members of a spread team and define their different roles

  • Understand how to use the quality improvement approaches that underpinned a successful 12-week national scale up programme


Clare Morrison, Royal Pharmaceutical Society; Scotland


Rosie Cooper, Scottish Government; Scotland