Health action zone fellowships

Citation

(2001), "Health action zone fellowships", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214eab.002

Health action zone fellowships

Health action zone fellowships

In May the UK Health Minister John Hutton awarded the second wave of health action zone (HAZ) Fellowships to 24 front line staff in the NHS, social services and other organisations, for projects across England. The successful HAZ Fellows range from health visitors, paramedics and social workers to community psychiatric nurses, psychologists and a complementary medicine practitioner. Mr Hutton also announced the intention to launch a third wave of HAZ Fellowships focusing on the priorities of cancer, winter and emergency pressures and waiting lists/times.

HAZs are partnerships between the NHS, local authorities, community groups and the voluntary and business sectors. Their aim is to implement programmes to reduce inequalities in their area and modernise the delivery of health care and related services. Fellowship status gives staff working in some of the most deprived areas of the country the opportunity to be seconded out of their posts for six months (or equivalent part-time) to develop new ideas or to implement innovative services they have developed. The employing organisation retains employing responsibility for the HAZ fellow. The scheme provides for up to £16,000 salary reimbursement plus an additional sum up to a maximum of £7,500 for expenses and comprehensive academic support. Each fellow will be expected to produce a report at the end of the fellowship.

Projects to be taken forward by the second Wave of HAZ Fellows include:

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  the development of a model for school nurse intervention with children displaying behavioural problems and the development of resources for parents addressing behaviour management issues in Tyne and Wear;

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  the development of a neuro-linguistic programming based training model to assess a purely psychological approach to smoking cessation in Merseyside;

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  exploring the processing and support required to enable people with limited capacity to make informed choices and be involved in their health and social care in Luton;

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  developing a collaborative approach to acute myocardial infarction to ensure seamless care between pre-hospital and hospital treatment centres in Wakefield and Leeds;

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  the development of a personal development programme through creative expression and sport for young African and Caribbean males with mental health difficulties in East London.

For more information see HAZnet Web site at http://www.haznet.org.uk