Flow Coaching Academy (FCA) Lead Appointed Vice President Clinical Quality of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS)
Tom Downes, Consultant Geriatrician and Clinical Lead for Quality Improvement at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has been confirmed as the BGS’s new Vice President for Clinical Quality
Following a competitive recruitment process, Tom Downes, Consultant Geriatrician and Clinical Lead for Quality Improvement at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has been confirmed as the BGS’s new Vice President for Clinical Quality after being a member of the society for years.
With nearly 20 years’ experience as a qualified consultant, Tom will play a crucial role in working with the Society, special interest groups and wider NHS organisations to help influence the quality of care provided to older people.
As part of the role, he will work with multi-disciplinary teams to help contribute to national policies, programmes and resources aimed at improving healthcare for older people. He will oversee the provision of relevant, timely guidance and resources to help healthcare professionals working with older people to improve their clinical practice.
Tom’s first passions for challenging the status quo were recognised early on in his career. With this in mind he gained an MA in Business to support him with his improvement work and trained as an Improvement Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, USA.
He is internationally recognised, as well as across the UK, for his radical approach to system redesign in the Intermediate Care Service in Sheffield and his work coaching the development of a discharge to assess model for frail older patients.
Since then, he has successfully implemented a programme of improvement at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals which has seen the development of Sheffield Microsystems Coaching Academy, and the Flow Coaching Academy which works to train coaches and build improvement capability across the UK.
Commenting on the appointment, Tom said: “It’s a privilege to join the team at the BGS given the organisation’s proven strong track record in supporting clinical quality, standards and policy.
“I have been a member of the BGS for the last 23 years. During this time, I have been committed to developing quality improvement capability at scale in older people’s care and across the wider NHS.”
“I am now looking forward to bringing this expertise to the team at the BGS to share best practice about the capability and capacity required to remove unwarranted clinical variation and help influence policy, whilst promoting the BGS’s strategic goals.
“In my role as Vice President for Clinical Quality, I will champion the development of quality improvement skills and knowledge in the multidisciplinary membership of the BGS. I believe bold thinking is essential to achieve the scale and impact we all seek in terms of older people’s healthcare.”
“We are delighted that Dr Tom Downes is taking on the vital role of Vice-President Clinical Quality at the BGS. Tom brings a wealth of experience about systems change and improvement capability that will be particularly relevant at this time of great pressure on the workforce delivering healthcare for older people. I look forward to his leadership of the BGS’s clinical quality work.”
Dr Jenny Burns, President of the BGS
For more information, you can visit the BGS website
Updated March 2024:
The BGS site confirms that Dr Tom Downes has being appointed to a clinical leadership role with NHS England. You can view Tom Downes on Twitter or read about Tom on Health.org.uk
