Sussex Health Equity Fellowship: Cohort two Fellows announced

12 new Fellows have been selected to join the second cohort of the Sussex Health Equity Fellowship to help reduce health inequalities across the region. 

The Health Equity Fellowship is a nine-month programme delivered by Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex in collaboration with NHS Sussex, which equips participants with the skills and knowledge to become key change agents within their organisations, promoting a focus on equity and reducing health inequalities. 

The 12 Fellows selected for the second cohort of the programme went through a rigourous selection process and were carefully chosen because of their personal motivation, professional aspirations and the potential impact of their projects. 

The Fellows are: 

• Rebecca Corbett, Quality and Improvement Manager, University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation Trust (UHSx) – project theme: Improving Breast Screening uptake for ethnic minority groups 
• Claire Lockwood, Service Manager – Urgent Community Response, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) – project theme: Improving staff knowledge and attitudes of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) 
• Karen Hartley, Deputy Head of Clinical Education, NHS Sussex – project theme: Improving physical health for people with SMI (Serious Mental Illness) 
• Georgia Aloof, Advanced Practitioner/First Contact Practitioner, Sussex Community Foundation Trust (SCFT) – project theme: Understanding and removing barriers to accessing MSK services 
• Lois Howell, Chief Executive, St Wilfrid’s Hospice (Chichester) – project theme: Improving End of Life Care access for marginalised groups 
• Clara Clein Wolfe, Patient Care Advisor, Sussex MSK Partnership / Here / Care Unbound – project theme: Intersectionality of Inequity in Contemporary Healthcare 
• Jessica Crowe, Training Coordinator Learning and Development, Sussex MSK Partnership / Here / Care Unbound – project theme: Exploring culturally aware Hyper-Localised Mobile MSK Units for underserved ethnic groups 
• Stefanie Harding, Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (Worthing Hospital) – project theme: Enhancing health literacy in COPD 
• Lauren Walbrin, Care Coordinator Tackling Health Inequalities, Rural Rother Primary Care Network (PCN) – project theme: Improving Cervical Screening uptake 
• Michelle Asbury, General Manager, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) – project theme: Improving the experience of Special Care Dentistry for people with Learning Disabilities 
• Christopher Odedun, Consultant in emergency medicine, University Hospitals Sussex  – project theme: Improving outcomes and experience for A&E High-Intensity Users (HIUs) 
• Amy Louise Reimoser, Clinical Lead & General Practitioner, Brighton and Hove Federation – project theme: Improving access to specialist menopause services 

Over the next nine months, the Fellows will develop the skills and knowledge they need to influence others, develop in their roles and use their learning to reduce gaps in access to care, designing interventions that can help people live thriving and healthy lives. Fellows on the programme will learn what it means to apply ‘an equity lens’ to change initiatives and build capability on population health, improvement, innovation and evaluation, amongst other topics. They will also expand their professional networks by connecting with other Fellows, linking to mentors and learning from experts on topics addressed throughout the Fellowship.