A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of individuals with a shared goal or topic, who meet regularly to share what they are learning and collaborate on challenges. This can be an effective way for people leading change to gather new ideas, solve knotty issues and provide a safe space for peer support. The benefit of this approach is in the value of bringing people together from different organisations and backgrounds to share their experience and perspectives.
Following the success of the BLC role at the NHS Nightingale London, a number of those involved set out to implement the role in their own organisations. In response, UCLPartners established the BLC CoP, a collaborative network open to those who were adapting and implementing the approach to suit their organisational needs, and which also welcomed those who were interested in doing similar. With support from the Q Community, the group met six times over 18 months, to share learning and problem-solve challenges around implementation. Using a blend of action learning and innovative facilitation approaches, the CoP has supported the development of tools and materials to promote wider uptake of the role across health and care settings.
The impact of the BLC Community of Practice includes:
- Three organisations successfully embedding the role as part of business-as-usual.
- A growing network of organisations interested in implementing the BLC role and learning how to successfully adapt the role across different settings.
- Promotion of the work through blogs, journal articles, and conference presentations.
For further information about how to set up a Community of Practice, please visit: