Senior Lecturer in Clinical Human Factors at the University, Charles will join the Q Initiative, run by independent health care charity the Health Foundation and NHS England.

The scheme aims to bring together researchers, front-line clinicians and policy makers, allowing them to exchange ideas and lead the way in transforming healthcare.

“Current challenges in healthcare require new thinking on how best to enhance the capability of staff and provide them with the right tools, skills and knowledge to lead and drive up improvement in quality and safety,” said Charles.

“My passion is to share my experience in leading and implementing change in the NHS, and to design cutting edge research-based courses at the University of Bedfordshire in order to support healthcare organisations in making a positive difference in their drive to embed change and organisational learning.”

Alongside 230 healthcare professionals from across the UK, Charles will test the scheme before it launches more widely in 2016, with the aim of recruiting 5,000 experts in the next five years.

“Being part of the founding cohort of the Q initiative provides an excellent opportunity to contribute in designing the new architecture for the programme and training the next generation of quality improvement leaders,” said Charles.

Dr Mike Durkin, Director of Patient Safety at NHS England, added:

“Q will boost the skills of its individual participants, but also encourage a nurturing of talent and sharing of innovation and passion that will be vital as we build the capacity and capability of quality and safety improvement science across the NHS.”