Packed strategy day for KI-Region Stockholm management group
An important meeting was held on 11 May in Aula Medica for the KI-Region Stockholm management group. It turned out to be a packed strategy day that focused on common issues facing the group, including the work following on from the recently released Swedish Research Council audit, conducted under the ALF evaluation.
The strategy day was led by KI president Annika Östman Wernerson and Stockholm Regional Director Emma Lennartsson, who chairs the group. A number of important issues were discussed concerning the ALF agreement, which regulates the partnership between the government and certain regions on medical training, clinical research and healthcare development.
“The KI-Region Stockholm management group has the express goal of creating the optimal conditions for strengthening these areas,” says Professor Östman Wernerson. “It is a vital collaboration that we’re engaged in, and this was a key theme of the discussions held at the meeting. We had a pleasant time at our strategy day, which was held in a very positive spirit of mutual exchange.”
Very high quality of scientific production
Every four years, the Swedish Research Council evaluates the quality of the clinical research conducted in the seven regions covered by the ALF agreement. In its latest evaluation (31 March 2023) the KI-Region Stockholm partnership was given a very high-quality rating for the quality of its scientific production, a good to high-quality rating for the clinical significance and societal benefit of its research, and a good to high-quality rating for its research conditions.
“We can of course feel very proud of the fact that the quality of our scientific production has been judged to be very to exceptionally strong by the Swedish Research Council,” says Professor Östman Wernerson. “But we can do more to improve the conditions and practical utilisation of clinical research. The issues we want to pursue further include, for example, making time for clinical research and career paths for junior researchers and teachers.”
Dialogue on all levels
Also on the agenda were matters of infrastructure and communication, and improving the dialogue on all levels of the collaboration organisation.
The management group has overall responsibility for how the KI-Region Stockholm partnership is organised and implemented, and for strategic considerations and decisions vital to the structure and development of academic healthcare.
The results of yet another evaluation, this one of university healthcare by the National Board of Health and Welfare (the USV evaluation), are due at the end of May.
“University healthcare is a shared concern,” says Professor Östman Wernerson. “Here, KI has strong education and research environments, and this is important to follow up on. A lot of work was done ahead of the evaluation with site visits and interviews. The evaluation will show how well we meet the national criteria, so we have a lot to look forward to and continue working on.”