Institutional Context
Summary
AECC University College is a small and specialist health sciences higher education provider operating across health, rehabilitation and sport sciences disciplines. Alongside our educational provision, we deliver extensive clinical services supporting our local community, the NHS, the local authority, and private providers. Whist small, our vision is substantial - to be a leading specialist health sciences university providing excellent education, clinical care and applied research. We aim to be recognised as an important anchor institution serving Dorset and our local communities, recognised nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence.
Institutional context
AECC University College (AECC UC) is a small specialist health sciences provider with over 1000 FTE students from over 55 countries, and 150 FTE staff, smaller than most health faculties in the UK. AECC UC was established in 1965 as the first chiropractic training provider in Europe. Its graduates enjoy 100% employability in professional careers or further study in clinical settings across the world, as well as contributing widely to the leadership of the profession at the highest levels. In 2021 we launched our new Strategic Plan, Fit for the Future, with a mission to ‘create a healthier society through education, research and clinical care’, and an aim to ‘Establish ourselves as an anchor institution for knowledge exchange and economic development within our local community’.
Since gaining TDAP, our academic portfolio has expanded significantly over the past five years beyond chiropractic, with a focus on taught courses and CPD (Continuing Professional Development) provision in allied health, rehabilitation and social sciences. This portfolio has been informed and supported by meaningful relationships with external stakeholders including our local ICS (Integrated Care System), HEE (Health Education England) region, professional bodies, local authorities and Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector partners. Our small size, coupled with health and care specialist expertise across the organisation, means that we are agile and responsive to meet the changing demands of the local workforce, evidenced by our delivery of workforce transformation initiatives including successful regional and national first contact practitioner (FCP) tenders and Practice Educator Training.
Our 2021 REF submission highlighted our specialist research to date, with a focus on musculoskeletal care, spinal biomechanics, and patient-reported outcomes. In the results of REF, 82% of research outputs, environment and impact were assessed as internationally recognised, with a quarter judged as internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance, and rigour. Our engagement and commitment to the recently established Dorset Innovation Hub as a partner organisation, working alongside partner universities underline our commitment to work with local partners to improve prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for our communities.
We deliver extensive clinical services supporting our local community, the NHS, the local authority, and private providers, supporting approximately 1000 patient visits onsite per month. Our strategic plan defines our ambitions for continued excellence, growth, and partnership and with Knowledge Exchange forming a central part of our vision. We will develop a Civic University Strategy to drive our stakeholder engagement and outreach activities across community, health, education, and business.
We are proud to be situated in Boscombe, one of the most deprived areas in England and contribute to local regeneration via Towns Fund Board and workstream membership as the local anchor institution. We are committed to making Boscombe a better place to live, work and visit. We are one of the largest local employers and recognise our social and economic influence and impact. Our premises are utilised by a wide range of external stakeholders for social, clinical activities.
For further information, please send queries to Enterprise@aecc.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Our mission is to 'create a healthier society through education, research and clinical care' and is as relevant today as it was 57 years ago. We are proud to be situated in Boscombe and support the Boscombe Regeneration Partnership and Towns Fund vision to make Boscombe a better place to live, work and visit. We are one of the largest local employers and recognise the social and economic impact we have locally. We will have more porous boundaries and our beautiful campus, patient services, educational opportunities and high-quality public talks will be more accessible to our local community. Through partnership working we can contribute to reducing health inequalities and improving educational outcomes for the local population.
Aspect 1: Strategy
As a small and specialist Health Sciences University, AECC University College is in a prime position to understand and respond to the challenges faced by the local economy in health and beyond. Our wide-ranging partnerships help us to identify and understand the needs of the local area in order to develop our own strategies and action plans. Our Corporate Strategic Plan 2016-2021 included an aim: To provide education and undertake research in health sciences, including chiropractic and/or other allied, related or ancillary disciplines.
In November 2021 we launched our new institutional strategy, Fit for the Future which set out a clear direction of travel to ensure our future success as a health sciences university. Strategic aim 5 outlined our commitment to ‘Establish ourselves as an anchor institution for knowledge exchange and economic development within our local community’. We will achieve this strategic aim by developing local community partnerships; developing an engagement strategy which encompasses outreach, civic and business engagement; and aligning our activities with local and regional priorities.
As a specialist health sciences institution based in Boscombe, a coastal community and one of the most deprived areas in England, we are committed to working closely with local Boscombe community partners, local Bournemouth and Dorset partners, and regionally partners in the Southwest / Southern / Wessex region to support local regeneration and reduce health inequality and disparity. We are also committed to developing further partnerships with sporting and community leisure providers.
As a specialist health provider in allied health our reach we are working with partners locally in Dorset, regionally with HEE SW, and nationally through NHS partners to provide a pipeline of local workforce into health careers, to support workforce development, recruitment and retention.
We are proud partners in the Dorset Innovation Hub, one of four Health Foundation Innovation hubs in the United Kingdom. The hub brings together partners across Dorset from primary, community secondary and social care, academia, innovation, research, economy, industry and with patient and public involvement and engagement facilitate and sustain innovation adoption across the Dorset ICS. The hub strategy (reflected in the aims of AECC UC for continuous improvement) is underpinned by a vision to facilitate and sustain innovation adoption across the Dorset ICS Dorset for the benefit of our patients and service users.
We are also partners in the Wessex Health Partners, a strategic collaboration between the HEIs in Wessex, health and care systems, patients and public, industry and local government. The alliance focuses on acceleration of improvements to health and social care through research, innovation, and training, to contribute to the delivery of improved health and care outcomes for our population and drive economic growth.
Our approach – led by our Head Academic Enterprise and Engagement, who coordinates our partnership working, engagement strategy and is a fist point of contact for external stakeholders. Various inputs are led by other colleagues including our Vice Chancellor and our Director of Clinical Services.
Aspect 2: Activity
Despite being a small university, we are highly engaged in a range of groups developing and executing plans with a specific focus on health, care and health sciences. This enables us to understand the local and regional priorities and areas for development. We are in a prime position to support the local growth and regeneration.
One key example of this is the development of our Integrated Rehabilitation centre in 2020/21. Working in partnership with the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership we were allocated £2.673m match funding from the Getting Building Fund for the construction of an Integrated Rehabilitation Centre (IRC) in Boscombe. This replaced a previous educational building acquired by the university but requiring significant renovation and investment. This project involved the commissioning and construction/redevelopment of premises to deliver new clinical and educational services, research opportunities and a range of wider community objectives. The building was constructed by a local company and handover took place in 2021/22 with locally sourced services where possible to deliver the planned build. The programme of work included a wide range of outcomes including the creation of an additional 15 roles. The programme was planned to lead to an increased number of allied health and other professionals graduating from AECC UC and entering employment in the local health and social care sectors, so helping to address current skills gaps. The first five years of those regeneration project will lay the foundation for future research in novel treatments and service improvements that will have a positive long-term impact on patient care and wellbeing.
We are proud to host a number of local community forums and groups, evidencing our commitment to our local community. We have hosted Boscombe soup, a live community crowdfunding event based on the principle of Eat-Vote-Fund. Members of the community are invited to eat a community meal of homemade soup and bread for a suggested donation; hear four people pitch their idea for a community project to enhance the wellbeing of local people and submit a vote; votes are counted and the one with the most votes takes the money made on the door for that night. Successes are evident from various funded community projects as a result of the initiative. Boscombe and Pokesdown Neighbourhood forum meetings take place within our premises
The AECC University College Sport Performance Centre has worked alongside the Armed Forces Para Snowsport Team exploring performance for both athletes with a physical disability (AWPD) and able-bodied athletes (AB). Research has suggested that the ability to cope with pressure when competing is a universal challenge faced by all, with suggestion that AWPD suffer additional challenges. To understand these challenges further, researchers at AECC UC conducted research to explore the challenges experienced by parasnowsport athletes as part of the partnership the AECC UC has with the Armed Forces Parasnowsport team. This research reported a number of strategies adopted by athletes and made a variety of recommendations for how athletes can be better supported and minimise impact of injury.
In 2021 AECC UC started working with a local environmental charity, Your Planet Doctors, in supporting research that aims to measure the impact of a local community project run by the charity helping individuals grow their own food. Based in Boscombe, Your Planet Doctors, founded by retired GP, Dr Anne Hayden, worked with another local charity, Grounded Community, which also grows and shares fruit and vegetables; teaches others how to grow their own food; redistributes food surplus from gardens and businesses; and connects networks of people who store and share homegrown food. AECC UC worked with the project measuring the health benefits associated with the project; in terms of people eating more healthily, being engaged with green and growing, and the benefits for mental health.
In addition to educational and community partnerships, we work with local NHS Trusts and Primary Care Networks to deliver health care to our local population. Our open, upright MRI scanner is one of only 7 in the UK which provides important diagnostic scanning for patients who are unable to tolerate standard MRI bore. With a centre of excellence in medical ultrasound we deliver training on a local, national and international basis, with partners across NHS / private providers, in particular pregnancy services and musculoskeletal training for elite sport and seek to support specialist providers in this field.
Throughout 2019-2022, we ran a free expert talk series, initially based on different aspects of sport performance and sport psychology for the general public with 212 attendees. Followed by a series of free First Contact Practice networking sessions in 2021 with a total of 240 attendances at free public lecture events in 21-22.
In 19-20 working alongside our partner HEI, Bournemouth University, we set up and delivered a Satellite chiropractic clinic for SportBU. The clinic was run by chiropractic placement students, under the supervision of a qualified Chiropractor once a week. The aim of the clinic was to offer weekly treatment sessions to the sports teams and BU staff. Initial triage assessments were available for assessment, diagnosis and treatment advice. In the period Sept 19 – Sept 22 there were 245 completed appointments.
Aspect 3: Results
Much of our clinical services delivery is targeted at reducing waiting times and list for our NHS partners. The result of this can lead to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes. For example, in 2021 a collaboration between University Hospitals Dorset, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and AECC University College led to AECC UC delivering in excess of 1000 ultrasounds in just 4 weeks. This enabled our local NHS Trust partners to reduce their waiting lists whilst they recovered from Covid-19, whilst also creating additional training capacity for Sonographers to increase NHS staffing for the future.
We have provided local musculoskeletal treatment for patients who would have sought NHS care through our clinical services. We enable these services through delivery of clinical care by our chiropractic students under close supervision of our highly experienced clinic tutors. From Sept 19 – Sept 22 110 students from AECC UC were involved in musculoskeletal triage delivered from our clinical setting.
Post-natal care and breastfeeding advice is recognised as the Cinderella service within NHS services and fulfilling the national guidelines in limited time appointments can be challenging for GPs. Responding to this demand, we have delivered a free clinical service, a newborn feeding clinic, a collaboration between Bournemouth University and AECC University College. A unique initiative where student midwives and student chiropractors work together at the same time, supervised by qualified and experienced practitioners from both organisations. This clinic is aimed at those who are either breastfeeding exclusively or mixed feeding their babies up to 8 weeks of age by advising on positioning and comfort. The impact of the clinic on both the mothers and students was evidenced through a PhD mixed-methods study. We have seen 331 patients in the 2019-2022 years – the service was impacted by Covid significantly however attendance being optimum levels in the post covid world is evidence of demand and impact. Data is collected on both patient numbers, referrals as a result of assessment of baby and /or mother and patient satisfaction. In addition, impact is evident in the students who volunteer to work in the clinic. This initiative is celebrated through our news stories and publicised throughout local NHS networks.
Due to the nature of being a health sciences university our employment rates of our students have historically been high, therefore contributing directly to the local and national economy. Many of our healthcare courses are post graduate in nature, with the student population being mature students of all ages and backgrounds. These students are more likely to come from the local area and enter healthcare employment locally upon qualification and registration.
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
AECC UC may have a global outlook, but we are firmly rooted in the local community. We welcome our communities onto our campus and work with several local and regional partners, providing value to our strategic institutional vision and commitment to give back to the local community. We are a unique combination of education, clinical care and applied research, focused on health. Our partnerships are testament to our drive and passion to create transformational communities who share our values and successes. We are committed to creating civic benefit in all that we do and pledge to develop a Civic University Agreement working with local partners to focus our engagement and outreach activity across community, health, education and business.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our strategic approach to community and public engagement is driven by our strategic plans. Our 2016-2021 plan stated our ambition to be ‘Rooted in the community’. Our vision which drives ‘Fit for the Future’, our strategic plan (2021-2026) is ‘To be a leading specialist health sciences university providing excellent education, clinical care and applied research. We will become an important anchor institution serving Dorset and our local communities, recognised nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence’. Our commitment to public and community engagement is evidenced in multiple aims such as our commitment to ‘Provide affordable patient centred care through multidisciplinary clinical, rehabilitation and diagnostic services’ (Strategic aim 3) and ‘Establish ourselves as an anchor University for knowledge exchange and economic development within our local community’.
Our planned achievements for the 2021-2026 strategic plan are ambitious and include our ongoing development of local community partnerships; an engagement strategy which encompasses outreach, civic and business engagement; and the alignment of our activities with local and regional priorities. We are committed to creating civic benefit in all that we do and will pledge to develop a Civic University Agreement working with local partners to bring focus to our engagement and outreach activity across community, health, education and business. We will have more porous boundaries and our beautiful campus, patient services, educational opportunities and high-quality public talks will be more accessible to our local community. We have made a commitment to dedicating time to developing relationships with our local communities, as well as health and local authority partners. We will also expand our work with sporting bodies, sports clubs and organisations to raise awareness and identify mutually beneficial opportunities.
Aspect 2: Support
We have invested in our infrastructure for P&CE with several posts including a Head of Academic Enterprise and Engagement and Head of Access and Participation, supported by a wider team including specialist student ambassadors. These roles are central for the development of meaningful engagement and partnerships as we expand our reach and partnerships. Both roles sit across the University and provide support to staff and students in activities related to P&CE. Over the last 3 years we have slowly developed our support for P&CE, which is now embedded within our newly launched academic framework. The framework sets out expectations for research, professional practice and education and aims to ensure that staff at different levels of responsibility have clear expectations of their roles and the opportunities to achieve and progress. It offers an emphasis for all academic staff through the pillar of professional practice with public engagement and societal impact being central to that. Through the framework staff are supported to participate in outreach activities; public engagement sessions; speaking to amateur groups and special interest societies; participate/lead on professional workshops, conferences and briefings and business/industry briefing events. Academics will be required to provide evidence of these activities through academic promotional rounds.
Evidence of uptake of engagement is evidenced through increasing attendance of stakeholders at various events; minutes of meetings; delivery of teaching by public and community members; and the wide range of outreach and widening participation events that we support and run. Our outreach and engagement activities are underpinned by EDI to improve access for specific groups remove barriers and fears around HE and achieve significant reductions in progression gaps for those groups most significantly affected. We run a range of events including free summer schools, seminars, taster days and focused events for our local community. Our specialist student ambassadors are central to our P&CE activities.
To support the development of our research, education and clinical services we have created SPACE (Sharing Patient and Community Experience), a group of patients and carers from our local community who are interested in improving healthcare, for ourselves and for others. Learning through lived experiences of this group and working in partnership we will - provide outstanding person-centred care to patients in our local community; give first-class education to our healthcare students, who will be our clinicians of the future; and carry out relevant and useful research to understand and improve on healthcare both in our community and nationwide.
In 2022, we commenced a project for staff-led knowledge exchange projects, where staff were able to submit an expression of interest for KE funding and projects. Staff who were successful were allocated a mentor for the duration of their project and regular reporting mechanisms were put in place to support project timelines based on a RAG rating process. A wide variety of projects were supported through this process with the completion due in May 2023, therefore no outcomes are yet reported.
Aspect 3: Activity
Our doors are open to our local community through various activities, which include our clinical service provision and examples such as our project with Active Dorset offering exercise referrals and classes. Our clinical services are driven by the belief that with the right kind of care, everyone can make improvements to their health, and to their lives. These clinical services encourage development of meaningful partnership, such as with Bournemouth Collegiate school for whom we provide opportunities for student athletes at BCS Sport Academy to receive sport science and sport psychology support, enabling complementary curriculum delivery.
In 2021/22, we agreed the location of a new Forest School Initiative with Pokesdown Primary School, supporting our aim to create an inclusive and sustainable environment in which we support our people and develop our activities, spaces and facilities to be fit for the future. The school is on campus four days a week during term-time, making use of open woodland space on campus that has until now been under-utilised. Prior to the children commencing use of the location (from Sept 2022), our Facilities and Buildings Team worked hard to prepare the space for the children, which has included clearing the area to create a space for play and have built a mud kitchen and several seating areas.
We provide a broad range of community focused activities throughout each year beyond the required access and participation activities, working with students at both primary and secondary school level, and aim to support students at different stages of their academic journey. We run a variety of taster days for Year 12 and 13 students to learn about opportunities in healthcare, alongside supporting a wide variety of events with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. Examples of this include hosting of a Girls Science Festival each year, inviting girls from local schools to learn about women in science, exploring science through practical workshops. Another example is our Research Experience Week summer school, aimed at local year 11/12/13 students who work on research projects and learn about the importance of research. One of the initiatives we often promote at these events is StraightenUpUK - a simple, 3-minute posture care programme designed to help improve children's posture & spinal health. In 2020, we delivered the Access2AECC Programme, a Psychology research group for Year 12 pupils. The group met virtually with each student choosing their own community-based project topics and their research question to work on with their tutors and the Specialist Student Ambassadors
Our Senior Chiropractic Interns, studying in their final year, take part in at least two community engagement events as part of their course. This provides a great opportunity not only for students to gain experience outside of a clinical environment, but also enables us to connect with our communities and give back to the public. Some of the events we support each year include: Bournemouth Lions Club Healthy Happy Living event; Bournemouth Marathon; MacMillan Dorset Bike Ride; Rotary Dorset Bike Ride; Larmer Tree Marathon; Dorset Plane Pull; Bournemouth Bay Run; and Boscombe 10k.
Alongside educational and clinical engagement, we regular offer our premises to local community groups to hold meetings and events. These include charities, SMEs, the Chamber of Commerce and social groups. We are regular hosts of the Bournemouth Anglo-Italian society educational and social evenings which aim to promote a greater understanding of Italian language and culture and give everyone the chance to share their interest of all things Italian, encouraging friendships and inclusivity. The society was founded in 1945 and have held their meetings with us for many years.
Before restrictions imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic our Human Performance Laboratory started working with the Bournemouth Lions Wheelchair Rugby squad to offer sport science and psychology support; developing mental performance and offering wellbeing support to the Bournemouth Lions and their support staff. This project allowed the team to take lessons from the Armed Forces Para Snow Sport Team and GB Para Snowsport projects. This collaboration was part of an existing partnership that the University College has with Bournemouth Rugby. At the same time the performance centre partnered with Dorset Police to undertake a pilot project supporting frontline officers in Bournemouth by conducting health screenings and advising on keeping officers fit, healthy and happy.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
Being a small University, our approach to monitoring and evaluating the quality of our engagement takes an institution wide approach, reporting into our senior management group and executive team. Engagement activities are evaluated by participants and reports created and circulated for information. Feedback on activities is discussed with the relevant team and continuous improvement integral to that process.
Delivery of our strategic plan is measured against specific KPIs, both institution-wide and in application to our schools and services. Progress is monitored by our Senior Management Group, executive and our board. Our KPIs are measured both for risk management purposes and performance measures, mapped against the operational plan. The intervals for reporting vary across our services and activities but are agreed on an annual basis.
Our newly created Knowledge Exchange projects are monitored through the use of a RAG rated system (Red-Amber-Green) which is shared between the project team and then to the Research and Innovation committee at 3 monthly meetings. Staff undertaking the projects are supported by designated mentors to help with all aspects of project management including engagement and ensuring return on investment.
Aspect 5: Building on success
Again, being a small University our reporting structures are less complex and enable us to be more agile in terms of continuous improvement processes. We believe that we have come part way to realising our ambitions for Public and Community Engagement but with ambitions for more. For example, engagement has become a central process to all curriculum development at AECC UC and is now part of the process at the beginning of any new course development. That engagement includes both employers and service users who are invited to engage based on their workforce requirements or lived experience. Evidence of this engagement is included in course consideration processes. Our engagement strategy is currently under development but will identify the vision and aims for engagement for the organisation, informed by internal and external stakeholder, such as our community and local businesses.
We have increased our engagement with several community groups, however this work is ongoing, with visions for expanding our reach and breath of activities. We are in the process of growing our infrastructure for Knowledge exchange with a new Research and Knowledge Exchange manager appointed to coordinate our approach, the associated systems and processes to support our team to develop their approach to KE.
The activity related to public and community engagement are shared and celebrated through various media including the Parkwood Post, our internal newsletter; our external stakeholder newsletter; student emails and our social media channels. It is also communicated via multiple networks in which we are involved. One of those is the Dorset Allied Health Professions Council, a group of senior and influential AHP’s across Dorset representing a range of professions supporting the delivery of the Dorset Integrated Care System . The vision for the Dorset AHP Council is “Improving lives by our Dorset AHP’s working together, driving and influencing innovation”.
Our SPACE (Sharing Patient and Community Experience) group enable us with direction, influencing our decision making in particular about of clinical services but increasingly so in our strategy around education and research.
Note You are currently viewing the latest version of this narrative statement. This narrative was not present in previous iterations of the KEF (KEF1 and KEF2).