This is the first of several Project ECHO Hub Immersion Training programmes taking place this year at its four superhubs in London, Belfast, Sheffield and Inverness.
ECHO – which stands for Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes – was originally developed at the University of New Mexico in the US.
At the heart of the ECHO model are its hub and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks. These networks are supported to form ‘communities of practice’ which share knowledge and expertise. A trained facilitator, who is based at a hub, guides their virtual meetings, with the support of a dedicated administration and IT team.
The project is a key enabler of Hospice UK’s five-year strategy to open up hospice care. After successfully leading ECHO in Northern Ireland, Professor Max Watson joined the charity in May last year as programme director.
Carole Walford, Chief Clinical Officer at Hospice UK, explains how hospices will benefit from ECHO:
“Project ECHO will enable hospices to share knowledge and expertise, learning from and with others who support people with palliative and end of life care needs. It sets up communities of practice and learning that supports good care in all settings.”
“The hub model extends the reach of the organisation . It enables all healthcare settings to meet and increase their knowledge and share expertise through use of the ECHO approach to democratisation of knowledge.”
The three-day training programmes run until December. Carole explains the project’s goals:
“Our aim is to establish training across the superhub delivery sites: Highlands Hospice in Inverness, St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield and HUK offices in London and Belfast. In the next year we will have trained over 30 hubs that can then each run numerous ECHO sessions reaching out to improve care in their locality. We will have a formal evaluation in progress to demonstrate the reach, impact and outcome of this work across palliative and end of life care settings. We will have established virtual learning communities of practice that are supported through dedicated teams at each superhub site. “
For more information about the training visit Project ECHO Hub Immersion Training
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