Communities of Practice and Subject Expert Groups

NCL Health Equity Community of Practice is a growing community which is bringing together professionals and groups who share common goals and interests in health inequalities. The Community of Practice is a space to enable colleagues across NCL to meet, connect and share expertise and experiences in this subject. 

Community of Practice meetings 

Community of Practice meetings are open to all primary care professionals who work with deprived or underserved communities in NCL and provide an opportunity to explore a range of topics and issues that colleagues experience on a daily basis.  

Meetings take place virtually over MS Teams and are a safe space to develop an understanding of the common barriers and challenges in delivering care to deprived communities, and share approaches to support primary care clinicians and colleagues who are working and providing care to patients in this environment.  

The group run meetings on a monthly basis and NCL colleagues can sign up by clicking below.

Autumn series 

The following topics will be covered during the Autumn series of meetings:  

• Trauma informed care

• Substance abuse 

The Community of Practice is led by Dr Punit Sandhu, NCL Health Equity Mentor Lead, and is supported by Enfield Training Hub.    

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to stephen.marchant@nhs.net. 

NCL Frailty Community of Practice brings together professionals who have direct involvement in the care of frail patients across various backgrounds in neighbourhoods, communities, primary and secondary care providers, with ties to research, education institutions, public health, and local training hubs. 

The Community of Practice exists to facilitate collaboration in establishing a common approach to frailty across NCL, enhancing awareness of existing services and systems, sharing best practices, and improving patient safety. The group will share knowledge to stay updated on developments and include these to shape frailty agendas and convene a learning community in partnership with NCL Education Faculty to design training and education that changes clinical practice. 

Community of Practice meetings 

Community of practice meetings take place every two months. Membership includes frailty leads responsible for service design and support across local organisations and systems in NCL, open to individuals with a vested interest in frailty. Leadership rotates amongst membership. 

Current goals include scoping existing models of care, mapping current services for frail patients across NCL, to understand how these work together and who is eligible to access these services.  

A longer term goal has been identified to pilot a care pathway to help improve oral health of frail patients with the hope that this will improve nutrition and subsequent health outcomes. 

The Community of Practice is led by Dr Rakhee Shah, Barnet Training Hub Education Programme Director, and is supported by Barnet Training Hub.

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to stephen.marchant@nhs.net. 

NCL Respiratory Diagnostic Hublets (RDH) Community of Practice brings together professionals who have direct involvement in the NCL Respiratory Clinical Pathway: Primary Care, RDHs, Community Health Providers, CDC and Secondary Care. ​

The COP exists to facilitate collaboration in establishing a common approach to respiratory diagnostics across NCL, enhancing awareness of existing services and systems, sharing best practices, and improving patient safety. The group will share knowledge to stay updated on developments and include these to shape Respiratory agendas and convene a learning community in partnership with NCL Education Faculty to design training and education that changes clinical practice. ​

COP meetings are to take place every quarter. Membership includes the Chair and Co-Chair of the NCL Respiratory Clinical Network, Spirometry Clinical Champions for each borough, and staff directly involved in the provision of services in RDHs across NCL. RDH staff will be automatically included in the CoP, while the group’s leadership rotates annually amongst membership. ​

NCL colleagues can sign up to find out more and access resources by clicking below.

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to irodotos.nikolaidis@nhs.net.

NCL Urgent Treatment Centres Subject Expert Group has a particular focus on education and training resources to support the expanding workforce in this area, and is developing an online library of educational resources that have been developed across London that can be accessed as a collaborative workspace for colleagues in NCL. 

This includes connecting with others who have led on this work and understanding where gaps exist. 

Its longer term goal is to recognise individuals and groups within NHS/private UTCs to engage with and to explore breakout meeting opportunities to develop peer-support and respond to local needs. 

The group is exploring approaches to facilitating pan NCL meeting. NCL colleagues can sign up to find out more by clicking below and also access resources.

This forum is a collaborative and supportive community for NMPs within NCL primary care, providing an opportunity to discuss topical issues relevant to prescribing practice and to share the challenges of the NMP role.

Through quarterly forums, NMPs can network, discuss current and emerging issues in prescribing practice, and share challenges and issues. Our goal is to enhance the professional development of NMPs by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, best practices, and practical tips, ultimately contributing to the delivery of high-quality, patient-centred care.

The group run meetings on a quarterly basis and NCL colleagues can sign up by clicking below.

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to barbara.bryden@nhs.net. 

Community of Practice for Nurses New to General Practice

The NCL Nurses New to General Practice Community of Practice (COP) supports nurses who are new to primary care in general practice, current General Practice Nurse (GPN) Trainees and those who have recently completed their training but are still adjusting to their roles in primary care. The initiative provides a safe, supportive space to reflect, share experiences, and develop essential skills for thriving in general practice.

COP meetings are structured as restorative clinical supervision sessions, facilitated by a Professional Nurse Advocate (PNA) and here’s why you don’t want to miss it:

• CPD recognition – each session counts towards evidence for your professional development

• Expert insights – benefit from speakers and facilitators sharing guidance tailored to your needs with real-world examples

• Reflective and confidential space – share learn and grow in a supportive environment

Structure of Sessions:

The sessions will run monthly from March to November (excluding August) on the first Wednesday of each month 12:30-13:30 via MS Teams. You can choose to attend individual sessions based on your immediate needs, however attending regularly will provide more consistent support as you navigate your role in primary care.

Key Topics include:

• Introduction to General Practice – gain an understanding of the general practice structure and how you fit into the system.

• Consultation technique and time management – discover effective, practical techniques and strategies to improve patient care.

• System structures and opportunities – understand how general practice systems work and identify career growth opportunities.

• Well-being and resilience for GPNs – discover strategies to build resilience and manage stress in primary care.

• Reflection in Clinical Practice – explore how reflective practice can enhance your clinical skills and patient outcomes.

We invite you to join this growing community to reflect, learn and grow with peers who understand the unique challenges of transitioning into general practice. With practical takeaways, peer support, and CPD revalidation, these sessions are an excellent opportunity to enhance your skills and confidence as a General Practice Nurse. NCL colleagues can sign up by clicking below.

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to anissa.tanna@nhs.net. 

NCL Health and Wellbeing Community of Practice aims to support the wellbeing of primary care staff across NCL, providing a platform for collaboration, bringing together individuals and groups already engaged in wellbeing initiatives or those hoping to begin their journey. 

By sharing resources, strategies, and best practices, the community seeks to raise awareness and improve access to health and wellbeing activities in primary care. Its long term goal is to create a culture of support, fostering resilience, and promoting mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing among staff, ensuring they are equipped to continue delivering high quality care in NCL.

The group is exploring approaches to facilitating a pan NCL meeting and NCL colleagues can sign up to find out more by clicking below.

The Community of Practice is led by Nes Yilmaz, Health and Wellbeing Lead, NCL Training Hub.

Questions can be sent to neslisan.yilmaz@nhs.net.

NCL Sustainability Community of Practice aims to bring together professionals from across the primary and adult social care workforce who share an interest in the growing work and focus on sustainable and greener healthcare. Its a space to enable colleagues across NCL to meet, connect and share expertise and experiences in this subject.

Meetings will be open to all primary care and adult social care professionals including those in clinical and non- clinical roles who are interested in the green agenda and improving health and wellbeing of patients and staff through sustainable healthcare in NCL. It provides an opportunity to explore a range of topics, share learning and shape activity being delivered in NCL as well as explore the challenges and barriers to delivering net zero plans within primary and adult social care settings. 

The group is exploring approaches to facilitating a pan NCL meeting and NCL colleagues can sign up to find out more by clicking below.

The Community of Practice is led by Losarina Kelly, Primary Care Anchor Networks & Apprenticeship Project Manager, NCL Training Hub.

Questions can be sent to stephen.marchant@nhs.net.

Commencing in October 2021 and aimed at driving better, more joined up neuroscience health and care across NCL, the Community Neuroscience Project has been building connections between clinicians from community services, primary and secondary care, to understand the existing neuroscience services in each region of NCL, identify inequalities in accessing neuroscience services across each NCL borough and harmonise neuroscience care by improving access to the appropriate clinical teams earlier in the patient journey.

The project has coordinated the NCL wide Adult Neurology Primary Care Pathways in Dizziness, Transient Loss of Consciousness and Headache, developed weekly virtual multidisciplinary meetings (MDM) to support NCL clinicians with their neuroscience patients, and has coordinated the neuroscience lecture series which is being delivered with the NCL Training Hub.

Neuroscience lecture series

A neuroscience lecture series has been developed with the NCL Training Hub in response to the feedback from Primary Care and the Community Neurological Services across NCL.

Previous lectures can be found below:

Questions about the project can be sent to uclh.nclcommunityneuroscience@nhs.net.

More information to follow.

NCL Cancer Subject Expert Group has been established as a key component of the NCL Cancer Alliance’s Primary Care Cancer Strategy, with an initial focus on enhancing a culture of learning and development. 

The Subject Expert Group will develop a framework for commissioning, designing and delivering education by tapping into the NCL Education Faculty’s education expertise to explore different pedagogical approaches and models of delivery, and by bringing together training offers from across the wider NCL system in one place to become a hub for cancer education and training in primary care.   

The Subject Expert Group will provide strategic direction for existing programmes and practice/PCN engagement, and its membership will include GP leads and subject experts as required. The group will meet at regular intervals and where appropriate be open to colleagues across NCL with an interest in this area.  

NCL colleagues can access resources by clicking below.

The Subject Expert Group is led by the NCL Cancer Alliance. 

Questions about the Community of Practice can be sent to stephen.marchant@nhs.net. 

NCL Respiratory Subject Expert Group brings together representation and leadership from a number of existing groups in the asthma and respiratory space including NCL Paediatric Asthma Network, NCL Adult Respiratory Clinical Network, NCL Sustainable Inhalers Group, Greener NCL Programme, NCL Long Term Conditions LCS, Royal Free and UCLH Secondary Care teams and NCL ICB.  

The Subject Expert Group will have a focus on coordinating education and training to ensure a joined-up approach to delivering asthma and related training in NCL relevant to both adults and children. It will work towards aligning key themes to ensure messages are consistent, uptodate and appropriately targeted across NCL, and enable stakeholder groups to have oversight and input across different training offers to develop a strategic education programme. 

The Subject Expert Group will connect with NCL Education Faculty to coordinate the scheduling of training and understand local needs and priorities.  

Existing groups will come together to meet collectively at regular intervals and where appropriate be open to anyone interested in contributing to/designing/delivering asthma and related training in NCL. 

The Subject Expert Group is led by NCL Education Faculty. 

Questions about the Subject Expert Group can be sent to stephen.marchant@nhs.net.

More information to follow

More information to follow.