Commercial Week Day Three: Meet NPAG

Today, our commercial week is focusing on NPAG, perhaps the least well-known of all our business units but arguably one that has the widest reach across the NHS. 

For those of you who haven’t heard of the National Performance Advisory Group (NPAG) we are a self-financed commercial team based within EEAST, who work to support NHS and public sector managers nationwide in the continuous improvement of their services. NPAG is a recognised professional development specialist, and we generate our income through membership, event fees and sponsorship. That income is then fed straight back to the Trust and supports innovation projects.

While NPAG operates under the broad Trust umbrella,  we have a clear, national identity underpinned by our own branding and website. This is key to ensuring we remain a national resource, not just local to EEAST.  However, managers from EEAST have been long-term supporters of NPAG over the years in the areas of sustainability, clinical engineering and security amongst others, and we have supported the Trust in key projects.

NPAG will be 40 years old this year, we support 50% of NHS trusts and currently boast around 700 members who benefit from the best practice learning, knowledge sharing and networking that we offer.

What do you get as an NPAG member?

The services we provide for members include:

Best value groups
Facilitating 20 national forums for managers to meet, network, discuss specific subject areas and share experiences. The BVGs provide managers with an opportunity to compare and review their own services alongside their peers, to ensure they are fit for purpose, deliver on quality and are continually improving.

Training workshops
Delivering training sessions covering a wide range of topics from occupational health to customer service skills but tailored to each client’s specific needs. These include bespoke on-site workshops which are tailored to meet the individual needs of the particular group.

Event management
Managing and organising events, from large scale national conferences to exhibitions and award ceremonies. We run three major annual conferences: the National District Nurses Conference, Clinical Engineering conference and the Theatres and Decontamination Conference.

In the last twelve months alone, as a team of just four, we have created and managed over 100 events including 3 national conferences, 69 best practice events and 31 workshops.

NPAG Network
Managing a question-and-answer forum for members to share best practice, raise questions and request assistance. The network gives members the chance to access professional and practical advice from their peers, and share documents. If you would like to join, EEAST colleagues are very welcome and you can email us at info@npag.eastamb.nhs.uk to find out more.

We’re based at The Orchard, near Chelmsford EOC, to find out how working with us could benefit you and your team, contact: info@npag.eastamb.nhs.uk or visit www.npag.org.uk

We'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about the services we offer and tell you more about how you can get involved. 

The NPAG Team

Published 19th July 2023