More about the next generation advisory panel

The next generation advisory panel is a representative group that ensures that the views and interests of early-career healthcare professionals are represented throughout the planning and delivery of our International Forums in Quality and Safety in Healthcare.

The panel plays a pivotal role in providing support and advice during our planning meetings, and critically, providing a strategic direction for achieving greater representation of early career healthcare professionals during Forums, an essential part of our growing community.

In December 2022, the inaugural BMJ Research Forum brought together 300 participants at the British Medical Association in London, UK. It was there that they were introduced to the  Sandpit Methodology: a structured, intensive, multi-day collaborative workshop approach for generating interdisciplinary research ideas.

One attendee from UCLPartners adopted the approach and applied it within the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; an organisation that manages 17 hospitals delivering care to more than six million patients.

The ongoing success of this project illustrates how a single, well designed collaborative method can catalyse meaningful change when implemented at scale within a healthcare system.

At the BMJ Research Forum 2022, attendees had the privilege of hearing Dr Katherine Freeman from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) deliver a thought-provoking presentation on the Sandpit Methodology for awarding research grants.

This innovative approach helps to unleash free thinking and inspire interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle significant challenges.

Among the attendees was the Chief Executive Officer of UCLPartners, Dr Dominique Allwood MBE, who was inspired by the potential of the Sandpit Methodology to encourage collaboration and co-production. Determined to bring about change, she took the concept back to UCLP and applied it to their Climate Collaborative initiative, developed to implement the NHS Green Plan across their hospitals.

“BMJ Group’s global reach and convening power enable meaningful knowledge exchange by bringing together diverse leaders and specialists, amplifying important voices, and sharing insights that inspire action across disciplines and borders.”

Dr Dominique Allwood MBE
CEO of Imperial College Health Partners, Director of Population Health at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London 

In the hospitals of the Northern Territory state of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience poorer outcomes and higher rates of self-discharge than non-Indigenous patients. These disparities reflect the ongoing effects of colonisation, structural racism and communication barriers within health systems.*  

The Communicate study was established as a multi-level partnership between Menzies School of Health Research, NT Health, the NT Aboriginal Interpreter Service, National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, the Djalkiri Foundation, and First Nations leaders, working across Royal Darwin Hospital, Gove District Hospital, Katherine Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital.

It was developed to address the impacts of colonisation and systemic barriers in Northern Territory hospitals, where most patients are Aboriginal, but most staff are non-Aboriginal.

The team at NT Health work to achieve the best health and wellbeing for all Territorians through the development, management and performance of the public health system.

Co-designed with Aboriginal partners, Communicate makes hospital care more culturally safe and accessible through culturally and linguistically appropriate communication, as determined by Aboriginal patients and communities themselves.

It does this by focusing on practical changes in everyday care. Cultural safety training is delivered through Ask the Specialist: stories to inspire better care, using podcasts led by Aboriginal people from Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolŋu nations, reflecting the languages, cultures and lived experiences of communities served by Northern Territory Health hospitals.

A cross-site community of practice links clinicians across Royal Darwin Hospital, Katherine Hospital, Gove District Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital to support continuous quality improvement. Additionally, Aboriginal language interpreters are embedded into clinical teams to support shared understanding and informed decision making. 

 From international evidence to local system change in remote and Indigenous health services

Fiona Wake, executive director for clinical excellence and patient safety, commissioning and system improvement at Northern Territory Health, believes that the learnings gained from attending the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare were associated with refinement and scaling of the work. Exposure to international evidence and peer systems where consumers define quality and accountability was consistent with international evidence and comparable models, and supported its expansion across multiple sites. 

Sessions led by consumer advocates challenged traditional reporting frameworks that prioritise organisational metrics over patient experience, leading to greater emphasis on patient-defined indicators such as cultural safety, interpreter use and self-discharge. Comparable community governed models from Broome, Alaska and Canada demonstrated the applicability of these approaches for remote and Indigenous health services.

The early success of the Communicate study shows that effective change happens when Aboriginal patients and communities help shape how care is delivered, rather than commenting on it as an afterthought. It places Aboriginal voices at the centre of decisions about safe, effective care.

This view mirrors the discussions that took place at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in Canberra 2025, which emphasised the role of patient-defined measures in assessing and improving care quality. 

In 2020, Australia’s largest public health service, Monash Health, began work to improve recognition of paediatric deterioration by partnering more closely with parents and families. A co-design process with consumers and clinicians resulted in a single proactive question asked alongside routine vital signs: “Are you worried your child is getting worse?” Early testing in paediatric emergency and inpatient settings showed strong engagement from families. Over the following two years, outcome data demonstrated a clear association between parental concern and critical illness.

The work reached a pivotal point when preliminary findings were presented at the 2022 International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in Sydney. While the formal presentation created visibility, it was the informal discussions around the session that proved decisive.

“Someone who’d previously done a fellowship at Safer Care Victoria heard me speak [at the Forum] and introduced me at morning tea to the Chief Paediatrician of New South Wales, and out of that conversation a nationwide community of practice was started.”

Dr Erin Mills, paediatric emergency physician and quality advisor
Monash Health and clinical lead for Safer Care Victoria’s Safer Care for Kids ViCTOR Project

That single introduction at the Forum led to the formation of a national group of clinical leaders focused on scaling proactive patient and family escalation beyond a single service. Leaders from multiple Australian states began meeting regularly to share data, align approaches and test feasibility across different healthcare contexts.

This group evolved into a nationwide community of practice that has now met regularly for several years. It has supported collaborative research, shared implementation learning and coordinated rollout across jurisdictions, demonstrating the progression of the project from local improvement to system-level adoption.

The publication of the Monash study in early 2025 accelerated momentum, attracting widespread media coverage and significant international attention. Interest from the UK increased as Martha’s Rule was introduced, with the proactive involvement of families creating a clear point of connection between the two approaches.

By September 2025, New South Wales had embedded the proactive question as a vital sign for every child statewide. Victoria has also added the question to statewide paediatric observation charts, after Safer Care Victoria piloted the approach across multiple sites, demonstrating strong staff acceptability and reductions in deterioration events.

Forum-enabled collaboration helped trigger national discussions, including consideration by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care of whether proactive family escalation should be reflected in future safety standards.

The work continues to evolve. Adaptation for adult services is underway, and new international links have formed, including discussions with clinicians in New Zealand following conversations at the 2025 Canberra Forum.

This impact story demonstrates how the Forum functions not only as a place to share results but as a catalyst for connection. In this case, a single presentation, followed by an informal conversation, created the leadership network needed to translate evidence into national and internationally relevant change.

Bring your work to the Forum and start the conversation

Share early findings, practical lessons and unanswered questions at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare to connect with peers who can help turn local improvement into wider change.

The BMJ Case Report, “Scurvy – a re-emerging disease with the rising cost of living and number of bariatric surgical procedures”, arose when a man in his early fifties presented to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia with a painful rash on his legs, haematuria, and anaemia.

Investigations for vasculitis, autoimmune disease, and haematological malignancy were normal, and his symptoms continued to worsen.

Maternal medicine specialist Dr Sivanthi Senaratne reviewed the case and recommended a nutritional screen, informed by similar presentations seen in pregnant women after bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery has risen sharply in Australia, particularly among women of reproductive age. International data show that almost 60 per cent of women undergoing bariatric surgery are aged 20 to 44 years, and a national survey of Australian antenatal clinicians reported that women of childbearing age now form the largest surgical group.1

Large cohort studies show improved fertility outcomes after surgery, but micronutrient deficiencies remain common after sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass. Financial pressures can further limit access to fruit, vegetables, and supplements.2

Further history showed that, because of cost pressures, the patient had stopped taking supplements and was consuming little vitamin C rich food. His vitamin C level was undetectable, and other micronutrients were low. Symptoms began to resolve within 24 hours of high dose ascorbic acid.

Lead author Dr Andrew Dermawan said the convergence of rising bariatric surgery, financial pressures, and a preventable deficiency made the case important to share.

Once the BMJ Group press release embargo lifted, extensive media interest was immediate. More than 100 outlets covered the story, including ABC News, the Guardian, and broadcast features on Sky News, LBC News, and international radio and television networks.

Ranked in the top 5 per cent of all research outputs scored by Altmetric

Widely disseminated, with coverage across more than 100 news outlets, multiple blogs, broadcast media, and social platforms

Cited in international peer reviewed journals, including review literature on vitamin C and dermatological disease

Prompted routine dietitian referral and micronutrient screening for post-bariatric inpatients

Highlighted an emerging risk for patients after bariatric surgery

“Having an unusual case and exposing it to the medical fraternity is important, and I love it that BMJ Case Reports does that. It became a big issue in Australia. I hope this report raises awareness on nutritional deficiencies and encourages clinicians to screen for them in patients with risk factors.”

Dr Andrew Dermawan
General Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia

The Queensland Clinical Senate is an advisory body for Queensland Health that brings clinicians together to examine how the health system is working in practice. At the Adolescent to Young Adult Care: Doing Better meeting in December 2020, clinicians were clear that the system was falling short in terms of adolescent and young adult care. The Senate called for a co-designed strategy to address these gaps and improve care.

In response, Brianna McCoola, principal project officer for adolescents and young adults with the Queensland Child and Youth Clinical Network, led a nine-month co-designed process to close this gap.

McCoola and colleagues’ BMJ Open Quality article, “Co-designing recommendations to improve adolescent and young adult healthcare in Queensland”, documents the methodology and thematic analysis of consultations with clinicians, health professionals, leaders, non-government organisations, young people, and families.

McCoola explains that clinicians were “really worried about the safety of care for young people”, noting that most had “no dedicated training in youth healthcare” and that 15 to 17-year-olds often received care in adult services.

 Young people also reported that they often did not “feel believed, heard, [or] understood”.

Attending the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare over several years shaped both the development of the manuscript and McCoola’s confidence to publish it. She described her first Forum as the point at which hearing presentations “made it crystal clear to me as a clinician” that quality and safety offered the correct framing for a system-wide response to youth care. 

Successive Forums also supported her professional progression. After presenting a poster and then partaking in the closing plenary in Brisbane in 2024, she said the experience “helped me realise the calibre of what we did and what we produced”. Presenting the next phase of her work, subsequent to the strategy, in Canberra in 2025, co-designing a practice guide with young people showed her how the findings may be taken up beyond Queensland. In the post-presentation discussion, she recognised that “there were people in the room that might pick this up and use this in their clinical spaces”, which demonstrated to McCoola how the work is transferable across healthcare settings.

The Forum also provided evidence of its influence in practice. Hearing that colleagues had already seen and used her co-designed resources “has really inspired me to think about what can continue to be done as next steps”, and has shaped the direction she intends to take in her future policy work.

McCoola’s current focus is to “improve Queensland’s health response in the Youth Justice sector”, carrying forward the principles developed through the original study.

What is already known on this topic

Developing health service improvement initiatives, underpinned by co-design methodology with health professionals, patients and their families, leads to fit-for-purpose safe and quality sustainable improvements that have lasting positive effects on service delivery.

What this study adds

Adolescents and young adults are often not included in opportunities to participate meaningfully in improving health services, and are often classified as a hard-to-reach population. This study demonstrates the value of engaging with young people and their families, elevating what they need from health services to access safe, quality care that meets their needs.

How this study might affect research, practice or policy

This study outlines the methodology employed to engage young people in a meaningful project to co-design a statewide strategy to improve the quality and safety of healthcare. It also demonstrates the rich qualitative data the authors gathered using these methods, leading to a publication that discusses advanced adolescent and young adult healthcare in Queensland.

Jorǰa Campbell and Brianna McCoola from Queensland Health about their collaborative experience in creating a Practice Guide to Adolescent and Young Adult Care. Discussing around the project’s development, the co-creation process, and the importance of involving young people in healthcare projects.

Jorǰa and Brianna discuss the inception and execution of the book, which has significantly influenced practice changes within the Queensland health system. Sharing insights into the co-creation process with young people, the challenges faced, and the strategies used to ensure flexible and meaningful consumer engagement. Also, discussing their efforts to engage university departments and health networks, ensuring the guide is widely accepted and practically applied in healthcare settings.

Under the theme “The Power of Us: Strengthening Systems and Deepening Resilience to Improve Quality in Health and Care,” the programme brings together global leaders, innovators, and practitioners to share learning and drive real-world improvement.

Across three dynamic days, you’ll discover new formats, fresh insights, and practical tools to build resilient systems, foster collaboration, and improve outcomes for patients and communities worldwide.

Whether you used a BMJ journal, event, or tool to improve care, advance research, or influence policy, we would like to hear your story. Your experience could be featured on bmjgroup.com or in our next impact report.

Takes two minutes to complete.

Your examples help show how evidence and education become better outcomes for patients, professionals, and communities. They also help others learn what works.

What changed in your setting or community

How BMJ helped (journal, event, course, guideline, BMJ Best Practice clincial decision support, or another tool)

Who benefited (patients, clinicians, students, policy makers)

Any evidence you can share (numbers or qualitative feedback)

Example: “Using BMJ Best Practice, our team reduced time to correct diagnosis for neonatal sepsis.”

 “The more we show what’s working, the faster good ideas spread.”

 Ingrid Bray
 Senior Corporate Communications Manager, and editor of BMJ Group’s annual impact report 

For over 20 years, BMJ Group has championed underrepresented voices in research. Since introducing full article processing charge (APC) waivers in 2022, we’ve granted 70% more waivers to authors from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to the three years before the policy began. In the past year alone, nearly 10% of the open access research we published came from LMIC authors. 

We also participate in the HINARI programme, part of the Research4Life (R4L) initiative, which provides free or low-cost access to its medical journals for institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This partnership helps over 11,000 institutions across 125 countries access the best available, evidence-based medical content to support research, education, and clinical practice in these regions.

In August 2021, Dr Bruce Kirenga and his team at the Makerere University Lung Institute published a pivotal study in BMJ Open Respiratory Research on the efficacy of convalescent plasma for covid-19 treatment in Uganda. 

The study’s findings on the limited efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) helped shape major treatment guidelines. In Therapeutics and COVID-19: Living guideline, the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly advises against CP for all severity levels of covid-19 due to limited benefit and potential safety risks. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) similarly recommends against CP outside of clinical trials, except in rare cases involving immunocompromised patients. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also discourages routine use, supporting a shift towards more effective therapies like antivirals and monoclonal antibodies.

“Open access publishing ensures the publications are available to everyone, including scientists and policymakers in low-resourced settings.”

Dr Bruce Kirenga,
Chief research scientist and founding director of the Makerere University Lung Institute (MLI)

Compared to most publications in the biomedical and clinical sciences field, which usually receive 2-3 citations, this study stands out with 32 citations. Twenty-four policy documents and two clinical guidelines across four countries also reference it. These numbers highlight the significant impact this research has on evidence-based global health practices.

Dr Kirenga and his team chose open access to ensure their research reached a global audience without barriers, facilitating faster dissemination of critical findings. Making their work freely available enabled healthcare professionals and policymakers in LMICs to access the latest evidence on affordable and accessible therapies.