Evaluation of MS Leaders Academy 2023

This event is funded by sole sponsorship from Roche Products Limited. Roche Products Limited has had no involvement in the organisation or educational content of this event.

Introducing this year's group: cohort 2

There was a real spread of disciplines represented in this cohort, with medics, nurses, therapists and pharmacists present. The almost entirely female group comprised four consultant neurologists and a neurology registrar, three MS specialist nurses, two pharmacists, an occupational therapist and a research neuro-physiotherapist.

Geographically, there was a good spread across London, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the North of England. There was also a mix of working environments across secondary and community, and including both large MS centres and smaller district general services.

Overall impressions

'Wow, I was super impressed at how much work went into bringing this group of people together and the pre-course work around the Insight profile and such really helped to enrich the experience and the learning.'

Some individuals fed back a real sense of consistent development across the duration of the course, gathering skills and using them as they moved through the process.

'You have given us some really helpful tools and language to use in everyday life - thank-you!'

'I love having the learning material presented in a block form. I feel that this will be a great resource that I can keep coming back to. I am also looking forward to re-reading and reflecting on my learning in the next couple of days. I have loved the practical sessions and application of learning. I have felt very lucky to be part of this MS Leaders MasterClass.'

For others, the learning was more gradual. One delegate felt that the course itself had not taught her a great deal that was new about leadership, yet in the subsequent months she noticed a marked shift in both her leadership skills and her confidence and ability to handle different projects and challenges.

'The learning I got didn't feel instantaneous, but every time I've been in a position of leadership, I have found incrementally that it is becoming easier.'

Echoing feedback given by a delegate on the first Leaders MasterClass, one member of the group highlighted how useful the group project had been in learning to work as a team, to trust others to take on leadership of specific elements of work, and to not have to carry all of the responsibility alone.

'The formal skills and tools that we learned are very useful both in day to day interactions with colleagues, and for myself personally, but in a different way, the journey with the group has also been very useful. Someone said to me 'it's about taking on projects but not having to take it all on yourself' - that's such a valuable perspective, to use the whole team.'

Particular highlights

The Leadership MasterClass makes use of the Insights Discovery tool, including their colour wheel. The Insights tool was used for the second MasterClass running, and as in the first MasterClass, was hugely appreciated and well responded to.

'Insights are the most memorable thing I'll take away.'

'This is so needed in the NHS!'

Likeminded peers

Another aspect of the course which was perhaps an unexpected highlight was the camaraderie and the likemindedness of others on the programme. Whilst individuals had different perspectives and priorities, the common denominator to improve services in order to deliver better care and outcomes for people with MS was both uniting and encouraging.

'I found the environment of being with other people also wanting to enhance their services really stimulating. I'm not normally in an environment where we can have a stimulating discussion and can debate things without personally falling out, and I found that fantastic.'

Coaching and mentorship

Delegates found different levels of benefit in the coaching and mentorship aspect, with more people highlighting the mentorship, over coaching, as having been most meaningful.

'I found the mentoring sessions very helpful. I had preconceptions about topics we would be covering - like data use - but it was more general, and practical than that - teaching me how to get more organised by using effective tools, which are relevant throughout life, not just in work.'

The biggest challenge with the coaching and mentorship was that, this not being a standard part of working life, very few delegates knew what to expect or how to best prepare for it. Some delegates suggested that clarity over how they could maximise the benefits of these sessions would have helped them, whilst others felt that more specific coaching around the unique challenges found in the NHS would have really helped.

'Maybe having more advice and information about the coach / mentoring process would have been helpful so that I could have brainstormed some ideas.'

Managing conflict

A large part of leading and managing change is exploring potential conflict and understanding how to mitigate against it or manage it as it comes up. A number of delegates highlighted the benefit of the content around conflict avoidance and management.

[The 'leading teams' exercise] allowed opportunities to explore how conflict can come about. The role playing was interesting and allowed a chance to practise techniques.'

'A lot of ideas to deal with how to avoid conflict.'

Shifts in perspective during group work

Something that was hugely apparent in this group was the shift that took place between modules 1 and 2, through the intermodule group project.

The general experience of module 1's session where delegates began to unpick what the group project would be was one of the biggest challenges recognised by delegates across the board. Some delegates saw the challenge as a positive one with 'excellent support', a 'fantastic opportunity to put into practice the skills learned over the two days' whilst others found the challenge a frustratingly lengthy and unstructured one.

'I found this very challenging; I don't enjoy group work and battled with feeling I was wasting time. However, I understand this is part of the process and a skill that I need to acquire.'

From the feedback of various members of the group, it was clear that the perspectives of group members shifted and changed over time and the challenges of engaging such varied perspectives and skillsets became increasingly positive as individuals employed the skills and tools they were learning. By the final task of reviewing group dynamics and response to a clear task, the conversation continued long after the session ended.

'I really enjoyed the end task of the day. It gave such rich insights for discussion and learning about how a group of people can respond to a specific task. The group continued to reflect and talk about this over dinner and breakfast!'

The group project: My MS Agenda

The group project was left entirely open to the delegates' priorities this year, and they decided on their own question to solve. After an hour of discussion, they agreed to address the challenge:

'How do we deliver individualised care equitably to people living with MS?'

Recognising the constraints of current services and the wider challenges facing the NHS, they decided to focus predominantly on the concept of individualisation, specifically considering how they could make services more patient-centred, closer to home, equitable, and able to link between services.

The result was to develop 'My MS Agenda', a patient-led, preconsultation tool. This would be shared with people with MS prior to a routine consultation and used to steer and frame the discussion at the appointment.

Watch the full project presentation here:

Check out the highlights here:

Splitting into 3 subgroups to maximise productivity, the Content team researched and developed the communication style and questions / prompts of the tool, the PPI team engaged with people living with MS and clinicians who might use the tool, and the IT implementation team worked out how the tool could be used within and shared across current digital systems.

Personal growth through the project

The project work offered a huge amount of space for personal and group growth, with many delegates expressing different challenges to meet and overcome throughout the process.

The group as a whole were immensely proud of the work that was done, and many were enthused about its potential for the future when they delivered the presentation:

'Loved it! I was blown away with what we managed to pull together!'

'Great to be a part of this! Really tangible, transformative and timely project.'

For some delegates, the presentation itself was a challenging part of the project with two delegates saying the experience was 'terrifying' yet sharing the benefit of doing it:

'Terrifying - but so worth it. [It is] hard to see the potential until everything is completed. Now it's all exciting again for the future.'

'Terrifying! But [I was] really supported and my colleagues did an amazing job.'

My MS Agenda: next steps

Dr Kate Petheram, one of several members of the group who has been both supportive of the idea and proactive in taking it from theory into practice, discussed the next steps for the project and the new challenges now facing the group.

The group is taking this initiative forward as a pilot in six sites around the country. After some initial discussions in each locality about whether this pilot would constitute research or quality improvement, most areas have elected to carry it out as a quality improvement project.

'You can't just carry out a quality improvement project and say it improved quality, you need to demonstrate that it did this - which is harder than you'd think in practice.'

The pilot will see the six sites using the tool within their clinics. Each patient will be sent the tool alongside a pre-tool use questionnaire. They will be asked to use the tool at their next appointment, reflecting on its use in the appointment in a short post-tool use questionnaire. An additional questionnaire for the healthcare professional will find out how the tool impacts the appointment from both professional and patient perspectives.

The group all continue to be incredibly enthused by the My MS Agenda tool, but now that they do not have the dedicated time provided by the MasterClass, keeping the project going is more challenging.

'There are issues around time and priority - we had quite regular meetings and deadlines on the course but if we're struggling with anything now, it's keeping the momentum going. We've got competing priorities and things have to work together. Arranging a meeting to get everyone in the same space will also be a challenge and we need to do that.'

Two of the delegates, Kate McGuigan and Kate Petheram presented My MS Agenda as a concept at the Northern Connections meeting in June.

Miranda's personal journey

Miranda is an MS specialist nurse who has been involved in numerous grassroots projects seeking to improve people with MS's experiences of their condition, and of the services supporting them.

However, she - as many others do - often comes against barriers in trying to implement change. One such barrier is time. Her aim in attending the Leaders MasterClass was to learn how to improve services through leadership - and to have allocated specific time to making those changes via the group project.

'I applied in the first place because I wanted to help change things for the better and enhance our local services for people with MS; I was excited to come onto a course with clear aims and deadlines where I knew that, not only would I learn things, but there would be specific time carved out to apply the learning into practice.'

Miranda enjoyed the interpersonal, face to face aspects of the course most and particularly enjoyed working alongside other people who had the same goals and values around service improvement as she did. However, her experience of the project work was mixed. Working in a group brings benefits from so many different perspectives and skillsets, but bringing everyone in can take time and is often more arduous than working alone, and Miranda experienced both frustration and pride during the course of the project.

'The whole process was really enlightening - there were times where it felt like we weren't going to get anywhere but with that persistence that process created something really good and I felt really proud to be part of that.'

'The diversity of the team was fantastic; there was a challenge in that not everyone' s understanding of MS services was the same level and that did slow down the discussions for the project a lot, but learning to work with lots of different types of people was also helpful.'

The online aspects of the course, she felt, had a different energy to them and whilst they were useful, she felt the face to face sessions allowed for an easier and greater level of interaction. She noted that the coaching was useful in part, with tools and ideas to make use of, but that it was the mentoring which really benefited her. By receiving individualised, tailored support from someone who understood her role and experiences directly, and could speak into those experiences with wisdom and clarity, she found she gained a deal of practical tools and ideas to improve her personal organisation both at work and at home.

In reflecting on her experiences on the course, she can see that aspects of the course have influenced her work incrementally, and held sway in the opportunities she has put herself forward for.

'I've realised that leaders are just people like myself, and one persons' part of the jigsaw is just as important as someone else's. When I think about the confidence I've gained from the course, along with the mentoring that helped me get more personally organised, then I add in a knowledge of how the NHS commissions and plans services which I've recently gained - I can see that I have value as a leader.'

Since completing the Leaders MasterClass, Miranda has become involved in a great many roles outside of her day job including as part of the East of England neurology transformation MS working group promoting progressive and advanced MS, where she plans to approach the integrated commissioning board (ICB) with their ideas to action the neurology transformation plan locally, plan care pathways and improve access to Sativex, a spasticity drug.

'The confidence I've gained and the understanding that it can be me that has to do these things has been really important for me. I know now that, even if I don't know everything, I do know enough to make a difference for my patients and their services.'

After working as an autonomous nurse for many years, Miranda has been used to working alone, spearheading projects and getting them done. She has felt that there was not enough time to create relationships - but the course has given her an understanding of the value and importance of taking that time and creating those connections.

'I've learned that forging relationships is really important, and I have gone out and found people to become part of the team I need to further certain projects. With the Sativex work, I've formed a working party and it's been really valuable. I'm stronger now, months down the line, than I was as I was finishing the course. I feel like I'm actually acting on all of these principles.'

Kate's personal journey

Kate Petheram is a consultant neurologist who was attracted to the Leaders MasterClass because it felt like the right time to take another step forward in her career.

'I am 10 years into my consultant job and it can feel like you're on a treadmill. I wanted to shake things up and shape my career in a more conscious way. The course has definitely done that; increased my confidence and given me skills and tools to further shape my career'

Kate was one of the key voices in the development of My MS Agenda as it was taken forward for the group project. Several individuals in the group had similar ideas and common goals for the project; even so, bringing everyone onto the same page to accomplish it still required a uniting voice.

'I was very keen to take something like this forward, and a few of us had the same kind of idea. But, having been a proponent for the project, I didn't want to take it forward if others weren't on board as well.

In a group like this, you've got a collection of people together who all want to be leaders - but there was a space where someone needed to spearhead the work. No-one wanted to put themselves forward for that but I think I may have taken that on.'

Rather uniquely, Kate's father attended the groups' final project presentation as a mentor for one of the other delegates. This put some added pressure on her, as she values his opinion greatly and looks up to him. He has always been very supportive of her, and having him attend felt meaningful to others in the room, as well as to Kate herself.

'My dad's always been an inspiration in that he loves his job in terms of clinical neurology and he's very respected because of his quiet, gentle leadership. He doesn't push himself out there, he just gets on with things. I've always found that very inspiring and wanted to emulate that in terms of my leadership journey.'

Kate has found that the course has impacted her work in different ways. A business case for an additional specialist nurse that she has been pushing through for almost a decade has been successful, and she attributes this, in part, to the meaningful way she was able to interact with the senior management team, in part as a result of the MasterClass.

She has found herself looking at leadership styles and noticing how people in her workplace or in different meetings and senior conversations are reacting to each other, and making use of these observations. Kate has since taken on a leadership role within the Northern Deanery as training programme director, and whilst the skills needed are different to those in clinical neurology, she feels the Leaders MasterClass definitely increased her confidence in taking on this role.

This course is not the only aspect of MS Academy that has helped her in her leadership, though.

'My confidence in terms of speaking in public places has been helped by MS Academy in general. The way the teaching is arranged and feedback delivered as speakers is really good, and the contacts you make within the Academy have been really beneficial.'

Leadership progress outside the MasterClass

A number of members of the group have found that, since the MasterClass, they are more willing and able to put themselves forward for positions of leadership, or roles that they previously would have lacked confidence in applying for, as is clear from Kate and Miranda's reflections. The My MS Agenda work is continuing with many of the cohort involved in taking this exciting initiative forward – keep your eyes peeled for its implementation!