Coaching
Find out more about our coaching services including our approach and impact.
Coaching is a highly-effective tool for boosting personal development, refining decision-making skills, fostering self-awareness, improving overall performance, and expanding influence.
We support our clients to gain valuable insights into their learning and leadership styles and personality traits through our coaching services.
You have the freedom to shape the session’s agenda, pace and direction, as well as indicating the level of challenge you are comfortable with.
Our Executive Leadership Coaching is designed for people who:
All of our coaches have completed recognised qualifications and adhere to the Association for Coaching Code of Ethics.
According to a recent survey completed by our coaching clients they said:
Convenor
Find out more about our convenor services including our approach and types of work.
Drawing on our expertise in continuous improvement, measurement and culture and leadership, we use a facilitative approach and coaching to support partners to reach an agreed approach.
We bring together individuals from various organisational backgrounds to address system challenges using a co-design method that integrates lived experience. Our approach is tailored to meet the specific requirements of each situation, grow valuable partnerships and nurture trusted relationships.
By establishing adaptable, safe and collaborative environments, we encourage the exploration of inter-dependencies, problem-solving and the exchange of knowledge, enabling partners to deliver transformative improvements.
NHS Quest Network
Find out more about the NHS Quest Network.
“We have had the privilege of working with the Aqua team over an extended period as we navigated forming as a new team and realising our ambition to develop effective team working. The work we undertook with Aqua offered a variety of supports from one-to-one coaching, coaching in small teams and wider development sessions with the whole Executive Team. This mixed modality ensured the team came together as a whole and worked together on challenges and opportunities whilst the individual and smaller group support enables individuals to reflect on their contribution to the whole and fostered overarching commitment to success across a number of levels.
“I wholeheartedly recommend the Aqua team, they were professional, experienced and incredibly skilled at navigating team dynamics. I would have no hesitation about working with Aqua again.”
Cara Charles-Barks
Chief Executive
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
“Aqua’s insight to coach, support and enable our team’s talent to be nurtured has been a great experience for me to be part of and I am so glad that I commissioned the programme.
“It has been a great investment to a team who deserved the care and attention shaped by Aqua, within a bespoke programme.”
Sue Moore
Director of Outpatients Recovery and Transformation
NHS England
“Working through some difficult conversations and topics have been excellent platforms to review how we can improve our collective performance at a strategic and operational level. These conversations have allowed us to share our journey and build up trust within our practices, working increasingly closer together to the benefit of our patients and our community.
“The Aqua team have been with us throughout, giving time in a very meaningful way, all contributions from the Aqua team have added value.
“As we exit our collaboration for now, we reflect on real progress made and offer many thanks to the Aqua team.”
Paul Carroll
Digital and Transformation Lead
Congleton and Holmes Chapel PCN
“I’m now more confident being vulnerable with others alongside learning to trust myself again. The understanding of my relationships, systems leadership and how I can work to affect change positively. I’m also mindful of looking after myself more too.”
Participant
Drive System Leadership Programme
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
“We now have a unilateral view across divisions and strong relationships so we can collaborate to achieve more.”
(Senior Leadership Development Programme)
Wendy McNair
Assistant Divisional Nurse Director
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
Meet our experienced Culture and Leadership team who specialise in coaching, system transformation, organisational development, leadership development, whole system flow and complex change programmes.
Deputy Director
Helen joined Aqua in 2015, she currently leads on System Transformation, Whole System Flow, Mental Health programmes and has corporate responsibility for Communications and Marketing and Relationship Management.
Helen has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, working in a range of provider and strategic organisations at Assistant and Associate Director Level. As an Assistant Director of Organisational Learning and Development in a Mental Health and Community Provider, her key areas of work included leading coaching strategy, cultural development, health and wellbeing, communications and learning and development. At a regional level she has led major transformation programmes related to workforce and health and work, and in her early career she also led regional programmes for medicines management.
Helen is CIPD Qualified and is a qualified executive coach. Helen has extensive experience of delivering board and system level programmes and interventions.
Senior Consultant
Jen is a proactive and solution-focussed leader, with over 20 years experience in transforming health and social care systems at local, regional and national levels. Her career spans local authorities, NHS commissoning bodies and provider trusts.
In her current role at Aqua, Jen leads our Safer Salford programme as well as a range of bespoke improvement work, particularly in the areas of social value, health equity, urgent and emergency care and system transformation.
Jen has extensive experience in commissioning, programme management and improvement within primary care, urgent care, elective pathways and community services. Her work includes system integration, pandemic response, large-scale service reconfiguation and award-nominated vaccine equity programmes.
Outside of work Jen enjoys family time, travelling and running.
Senior Nursing Consultant
Paul has worked in health and social care for over 35 years as a practitioner (RMN), staff development officer and regional development lead (National Institute for Mental Health, NW SHA). He has led on mental health legislation including the Mental Capacity Act implementation in the region. He has developed skills around workforce development, equalities agenda and co-production over the years at a regional level.
At Aqua Paul has delivered a range of programmes from restraint reduction, physical health and mental health developments, pathway diagnostics and re-designs around whole systems. Paul also supports continuous improvement development across health and care and in particular building QI capability in people with lived experience alongside the Aqua lived experience panel.
Away from work, Paul loves gardening, art, creative therapies and theatre, and has an eclectic taste in music.
Consultant
Amanda is a Senior Improvement Advisor for Mental Health, Flow & System Transformation teams covering the entire Aqua offer. Her background is nursing and health visiting. Prior to joining Aqua Amanda had over 30 years’ experience in acute, community services and public health. She has experience as a provider and a commissioner as well as working in leadership and governance roles.
More recently, Amanda has worked in service development, redesign and improvement. She also has experience of developing award winning innovative ideas, enabling systems via large scale IT programmes. Amanda is passionate about ensuring patient safety and quality and is driven by the motivation of reducing inequality. In 2012 she was awarded the title of Queens Nurse for innovative patient centred work in the community.
Outside of work Amanda enjoys learning Ukulele and Welsh (not at the same time!), fostering hedgehogs and exploring.
Consultant
Rebecca is a System Transformation Improvement Advisor at Aqua, who specialises in improvement and redesign of service offers and pathways. Rebecca has wide ranging experience of quality improvement including in paediatric urgent care, end of life, children and adult mental health, care navigation, pressure ulcer and facilitating QI taught sessions and workshops. She is particularly interested in joining the dots, operationalising strategy and demonstrating the impact and supporting the people side of change.
She aims to help develop and embed sustainable and impactful solutions to system challenges through systems thinking, systems leadership, continuous quality improvement, and innovative and tactical solutions design.
Rebecca is a member of Q and currently studying implementation science through a NIHR internship programme.
Associate Consultant
Helen joined the NHS and Aqua in January 2022 and is now a Programme Facilitator in the System Transformation, Mental Health and Lived Experience portfolio.
Before joining Aqua, Helen worked as a secondary school Chemistry teacher for 12 years, holding a variety of leadership positions,. She also recently completed her Mental Health First Aider training and is looking forward to embedding this role within Aqua.
Outside of work, Helen enjoys baking, reading and spending time with her husband and two young children.
Senior Project Support Officer
Easha joined Aqua in 2021 as a project support officer and currently supports the Mental Health, Patient Experience and System Transformation portfolio to deliver output on Aqua’s four improvement areas to support members and customers in the North West and beyond.
Outside of work Easha enjoys running, eating out and going to the gym. Easha has also completed the Manchester half marathon for charity.
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