Highland Hospice

What is ECHO?

Project ECHO (Extension of Community Health Outcomes) was established in Highland in 2016. The project has grown each year and we work closely with our partners in NHS Highland, Highland Council and the voluntary sector. We also work at a national level as a Superhub and strive to make ECHO as accessible as possible for all areas of Health and Social Care by encouraging and enabling the creation of new hubs.

Project ECHO, initially developed in New Mexico as an online methodology to support community healthcare professionals to treat individuals infected with Hepatitis C, is now a rapidly expanding global network. Project ECHO aims to democratise learning through mentoring and building communities of practice aided by multi-site video-conferencing.

Learn more about Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico’s website. 

Why ECHO?

ECHO is:

• cost effective and inexpensive to run.
• compatible with all governance frameworks.
• an all teach all learn environment with no hierarchies.
• proven in the US to reduce waiting times for patients (and has saved lives).
• quick to mobilise in a crisis. In March 2020 we set up three Highland wide COVID networks in 72 hours.
• energising! A chance to feel the joy of work. Providing a welcoming and easy experience with defined learning goals is deeply ingrained in the values of the ECHO movement.

If you are interested in facilitating or leading an ECHO network or would like to enquire about support to develop a hub then please contact Kirsty Bateson the ECHO Development Lead at k.bateson@highlandhospice.org.uk.

Current and planned work

As a superhub, we have been working with 4 different regional organisations in Scotland to run ECHO sessions on topics relevant to care homes and social care staff as a part of the Scottish Government's My Health, My Care, My Home strategy.

On top of this, we have been running local ECHO series including a group of sessions on Sustainability in Healthcare and another group called Rural Fellows which focuses on issues faced by GPs working in rural locations. We have other sessions planned for the near future including sessions on Long COVID and Pain.