The Sustainable Healthcare Unit is a regional resource hub created by healthcare professionals, for healthcare professionals. We are clinicians, commissioners, pharmacists, nurses, and public health specialists across Kent and Medway who share a common belief: Great care should be accessible to all, and tools to improve it should be easy to find and use.
Our mission
We recognise the growing demands on primary care, the widening gap in healthcare outcomes, and the real pressure on time, budgets, and workforce. Our mission is to create a practical, evidence-informed, and locally relevant space that enables frontline teams to deliver high-quality care consistently and sustainably.
What we do
At the heart of the sustainable healthcare unit is a commitment to reduce variation, tackle health inequalities, and promote best practice across our region.
We do this by:
- identifying impactful, scalable interventions already working well in parts of Kent and Medway
- distilling tools and resources so that others can replicate and adapt them in their own practice
- supporting implementation through advice, mentorship, and case-based learning
- upskilling professionals through high-quality, relevant training modules and how-to guides
- promoting equity by focusing on underserved populations and high-need areas.
Everything we produce is grounded in real clinical practice, local data, national policy, and frontline experience.
Working together
By working together:
- we reduce duplication and wasted effort
- w scale up what works across Kent and Medway
- we build equity into everyday practice
- we strengthen our collective voice in influencing future investment.
Whether you are a GP, pharmacist, nurse, practice manager, or primary care network (PCN) lead - your ideas, case studies, and local innovations can shape the future of care in our region.
Webinars and training
This section hosts live and recorded training webinars, regional showcases, and clinical masterclasses relevant to primary care professionals across Kent and Medway.
Why it matters
Clinicians engaging in regular continuing professional development (CPD) improve patient outcomes and service efficiency (RCGP, 2021). In primary care, rapid knowledge sharing through short, focused learning improves time-to-implementation for new guidance.
Shaping primary care together – live learning events for Kent and Medway
These live events are created for healthcare teams across Kent and Medway, offering a unique opportunity to connect, collaborate, and learn together.
Registering for events
All live events will be hosted via Microsoft Teams or Zoom, and are free for all NHS, social care, and voluntary sector staff working in Kent and Medway.
Once posted, registration will be managed through Eventbrite to streamline booking, reminders, and CPD attendance records. Just click the event link and follow the simple sign-up process.
- event links will appear below when live
- CPD certificates and event resources provided automatically after attendance.
On-demand learning, designed around your schedule
Welcome to our growing library of recorded webinars and live event replays, created specifically for healthcare teams working across Kent and Medway.
Whether you missed the live session, want to revisit the key points, or are training new team members, this section gives you easy access to high-impact learning — anytime, anywhere.
All sessions are delivered by frontline experts, regional leaders, and improvement partners who understand your pressures, your population, and your local context.
Hypertension for pharmacy professionals
Developed by Dr Michael Jackson, Specialist Cardiology Pharmacist, East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust
This free, structured course is designed for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to build confidence and competence in managing hypertension.
Created by Dr Michael Jackson, a leading cardiology and governance pharmacist in Kent and Medway, the course supports the delivery of evidence-based care aligned with NICE and Core20PLUS5 priorities.
Course overview
- progressive modules: from foundations to advanced case-based learning
- practical focus for community, PCN, and practice-based roles
- supports optimisation of hypertensive targets and CVD prevention.
A curated suite of practical resources and "how-to" guides to help implement improvement initiatives in your service — designed to save you time and reduce unwarranted variation.
Why it matters
Many practices in England report variation in care delivery due to lack of implementation support. Toolkits improve speed and fidelity of service change.
How to use it
- download toolkits by topic
- tailor them to your population
- share with clinical and admin teams.
Make it happen
- use one toolkit per quarter in PCN QI planning
- assign as part of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) role induction.
This section contains locally adapted clinical protocols aligned to NICE, NHS England, and Kent and Medway priorities.
How to use content
- access editable Word or EMIS/SystmOne-friendly protocols
- sort by condition or patient group (e.g., CKD, asthma, over 75s)
- includes coding, workflow, safety netting and escalation guidance.
Make it real
- integrate protocols during clinical multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings
- assign one clinician per month to update a protocol
- use in staff training or new starter packs.
Bite-sized project plans that help translate ideas into clear, time-bound actions for your practice or PCN.
Evaluating your own practice is one of the most effective ways to drive meaningful improvement. It helps you identify what's working, what needs refining, and where the greatest opportunities lie to enhance patient care.
Creating an action plan based on this evaluation translates insight into action. It provides structure, clear priorities, and a shared direction for your team — helping turn good intentions into measurable outcomes.
Evidence shows that teams who regularly reflect and plan together are 30 to 50 per cent more likely to implement and sustain quality improvements (The Health Foundation, 2021).
Why it matters
The NHS Long Term Plan emphasises proactive, planned care. Structured action plans increase delivery success by up to 80 per cent (NHS England, 2019).
Key benefits:
- increases ownership and engagement from the whole team
- boosts motivation by setting clear, achievable goals
- improves accountability and alignment with national priorities (e.g. QOF, Core20PLUS5)
- enables tracking of progress and impact over time
- strengthens evidence for CQC inspections, funding bids, and peer recognition.
How to use this content
Answer the questionnaire providing as much detail as possible.
Make it real
- present an action plan at your next PCN or locality board meeting
- assign one plan to each ARRS role for leadership development
- use to support integrated care system (ICS) funding bids or transformation work.
Closing the gap in care across Kent and Medway
Health outcomes across Kent and Medway vary significantly by geography, ethnicity, deprivation, and access. At the SCHU, we are committed to helping practices and PCNs identify, understand, and act on inequalities - so that every patient receives fair and personalised care, no matter who they are or where they live.
In Kent and Medway, people living in the most deprived areas are three times more likely to die prematurely from preventable conditions such as CVD, diabetes complications, and respiratory disease.
What SCHU offers to help you tackle inequality
We support healthcare professionals with tools, data, and implementation support to build fairer services:
- identify population groups with the worst access or outcomes using local data
- design targeted outreach and recall projects using templates and patient lists
- access case studies from practices that have improved equity in screening, chronic disease reviews, and health checks
- learn how to apply the Core20PLUS5 framework in a real-world primary care setting
- understand how to involve voluntary sector partners and link workers effectively
- get advice on inclusive communications and culturally competent care.
Data dashboard access
Explore interactive data on long-term conditions, QOF, population health, and inequalities.
Data-led targeting improves uptake of LTC reviews in deprived populations.
How to use it
- filter by practice, PCN and deprivation decile
- export visuals for board reports.
Make it happen
- identify gaps in care for proactive outreach
- justify case for ARRS or service redesign.
Contact for local support
Find improvement leads and mentors to support your project, share insights, or develop your team.
We would love to help you achieve your targets. Did you know that Peer-led improvement increases adoption of new practices? Sounds like common sense yet many projects fail because they are undertaken in isolation.
SCHU team members can support you though the first steps of an improvement project.
Let us know
- submit a support request
- join a working group or peer forum.
Make it happen
- reach out for help implementing a local priority
- offer your expertise to mentor others.
What we face on a day-to-day basis
- in Kent and Medway, the gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas is over 10 years for men, and 8 years for women (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, 2023).
- patients in deprived areas are 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalised for preventable conditions like diabetes, heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Kent and Medway ICS Health Inequalities Dashboard, 2024).
- 1 in 4 GP practices report difficulty locating practical tools to implement quality improvement or meet national service specifications (NHS England Primary Care Insights, 2022).
Why we need your help and collaboration
We cannot achieve transformation alone. Improving population health and reducing inequalities requires collaboration at every level of care and your voice is critical.
The NHS Core20PLUS5 framework urges systems to focus on the most deprived 20 per cent of the population, with particular attention to five clinical priorities: CVD, respiratory disease, cancer, maternity, and mental health.
This site helps translate that national strategy into local action and we need your lived experience, insight, and contribution to do it well.
Make it real
- appoint a CPD lead in your practice or PCN to share recordings monthly
- embed recorded webinars into your clinical governance meetings
- use content to support appraisal discussions or staff induction.
Local news and initiatives
40per cent of primary care teams are unaware of parallel innovation in their ICS (King’s Fund, 2021).
Stay up-to-date with news, service changes, pilot programmes and funding in Kent and Medway supported by SCHU.
- read monthly spotlight stories
- submit your news for peer learning
- share at PCN or practice meetings
- nominate local projects for ICS support,