Meet our new Clinical Fellow, Dr Josie O’Heney

Published: 02 Nov 2021

We welcomed Dr Josie O’Heney as our new National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow in September. She joins us as part of a scheme run by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, which provides doctors in training with the unique opportunity to spend 12 months working in national organisations to develop a range of enhanced leadership, policy, project, and communication skills.

In our latest blog, Josie shares her experiences of her first few weeks in post.

“As an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trainee, I am used to moving to a new organisation, but switching from a busy labour ward to an office-based role has been quite a change, especially as we are all working remotely. Everyone at HQIP has been so welcoming; Tina, Associate Director for Quality and Development, in particular has loved being “gifted an obstetrician” as she manages most of the maternity portfolio – hopefully I live up to her expectations! Jane (Chief Executive), Danny (Medical Director) and Jill (Director of Operations) are incredibly supportive and I am already learning so much from them.

“Before starting at HQIP, I was familiar with the maternity reports from the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) as they are widely read within Obstetrics but my knowledge about the full programme was limited. In this role, I, not only, get to explore the breadth of the programme and the positive change that it can influence but also get to work with NHS England to highlight national recommendations from the reports and ensure that these are acted on.

“Like starting any new role, my first few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as I find my feet and understand the work that HQIP does. I recently experienced my first ‘Super Stats Thursday’ – for those of you who haven’t head of this, it’s the second Thursday of the month when that month’s NCAPOP reports are published – hopefully after reading over 500 pages worth of reports my enthusiasm will remain! I have also been learning about the work happening here to make the NCAPOP an even more powerful force for change and quality improvement at Health Board and Trust level and I’m really excited to be part of this!

“I am hopeful that this being part of this scheme will develop my leadership and management skills and see me gain hands-on experience of utilising national audit data to influence positive change.

“For those who are thinking about applying for the Clinical Fellow scheme, I would strongly encourage you to do so! The scheme will give you incredible exposure to a range of leaders in healthcare and insight into how high-level decisions are made and acted on. I can already see that being part of the scheme will enable me to improve the care provided to women when I return to clinical work and give me the skills to have an impact on advancing high-quality obstetrics and gynaecology care in the NHS of the future.”

To find out more about the scheme and how to apply, please visit the FMLM website.