M4: Advancing Population health and equity: Collective leadership and quality improvement in action


Wednesday 21 May 2025 | 09:30-12:30


Format: Half-day workshop


Stream: Populations


PART 1: Leaning in: How to foster collective leadership to improve whole populations approaches to health and care


To meet the needs of whole populations, we need to be able to convene people across time and space, to develop a shared view of the challenges, and foster collective reflection and action. More than this, we need to take a relational approach which allows us to have more generative conversations, so we can shift the collective focus from reactive problem solving to co-creating the future. In this practical and reflective session, we share how we have used relational, networked approaches across diverse individuals, organisations and communities, who are working within the systems we wish to improve. Since progress happens at the speed of trust – we share what it takes to get everyone to lean into the development of shared purpose and collective actions, sharing our experience in three countries, and the methods that have helped to get us there.


In this session, participants will:



  • Appreciate models and new practices to support multi-sectoral collaboration and co-design with attention to relationship building.

  • Apply our learnings to projects or initiatives they are leading in their organisations.
    Learn about the core values and relational aspects of change that have worked for us – and that can be applied in different contexts.

  • Network, learn, and share with others leading change across boundaries.


Laura Yearsley NHS Horizons; England


Mirella Minkman Vilans, Centre of Excellence for Support and Care; Netherlands


Tanya Verrall Saskatchewan Health Quality Council; Canada


Tracey Sherin Saskatchewan Health Quality Council; Canada



PART 2: Practical strategies for enhancing population health and equity: QI approaches and impact from two Health Systems


This session highlights practical approaches to tackle the urgent need of improving population health and equity particularly for communities disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health. Participants will hear how two different UK health systems are pursuing these challenges through sharing their organisational approaches and specific examples. These include using QI methods, development of population health strategies, and executing their roles as anchor institutions. Through data and stories, participants will hear about evidence of impact and involvement of staff, service users, and communities in these endeavours. We hope to inspire participants to act in their own systems and share their experiences during the session.


In this session, participants will:



  • Access learning from two healthcare systems utilising QI methods to improve equity and population health.

  • Articulate the key lessons from strategy, leadership, and implementation.

  • Take home ideas and approaches to solve these challenges in your own context.


Amar Shah East London Foundation NHS Trust; England


Dominique Allwood Chief Medical Officer, UCL Partners & Director of Population Health, Imperial College Healthcare; England