Champion the future

Oct 4 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

DOCTORS, nurses and health professionals from Merseyside and Cheshire are to drive forward improvements for NHS patients in the region as part of a major national project.

The “clinical champions” will lead groups of clinicians in the North West to look at eight key health issues that affect people at different stages.

They include maternity and children’s health care, through long-term conditions, mental health care, to end-of-life care.

Among the clinical champions are Dr Steve Ryan, Royal Liverpool Children’s NHS Trust; Professor John Ellershaw, University of Liverpool; Dr Ian Davidson, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership; and Marion Waters, Countess of Chester Foundation Trust.

Health minister Lord Darzi, said “by talking to their colleagues, patients and others and using the best available evidence, the clinical champions will help identify what it will take over the next decade to provide a world class NHS.”