In 2024, we appointed Ed Sung to the role of JAG improvement lead. Project coordinator, Anthony Olsson, caught up with Ed to find out more about the role and the work he has carried out over the last 9 months.

You are the improvement lead for JAG, a role that you have been performing for the past 9 months. How have you found the role so far?   

I’ve found the role very insightful. It’s enlightening and very enjoyable. I was privileged to be invited to join the table with the senior leadership team in JAG. It’s given me a lot of learning experience about how JAG works outside my role at a unit that is accredited and being outside my role as a clinical lead. It’s been exciting!   

Can you give some insight into what you have been working on so far?    

We have rewritten the JAG adult standards and streamlined those into 80 standards across 11 domains. It’s more streamlined and less repetitive than it was before. I think the units will find it much easier to navigate through these standards when they do their evidence upload.   

I’ve been to the Republic of Ireland and Wales to look at engagement there. I’m pleased to say that we have had a very positive engagement there. I attended the Welsh Association of Gastroenterology and met the leadership team there, and we have been invited to attend the next programme.   

I have also been helping solve some complex assessments and that’s one of the privileges of being a part of the leadership team. You get some insight into the difficulties with accreditation assessments and looking at complex units and getting to help support them to achieve accreditation.   

What would you say your main focuses of the role are? 

My role aims to improve the standards and improve accreditation journeys by helping units meet the standards and providing the necessary support. Times are difficult in the NHS at the moment; there are a lot of changes and financial challenges. One of the things I will be doing more is not only supporting services in meeting the accreditation standards but maintaining them also.   

I’ll also be looking at training for assessors and training for service leads. I will be looking at training for JAG assessors and promoting the role of medical assessor to all clinical leads. I firmly believe that all clinical leads should be medical assessors in JAG because it compliments their role and is part of their professional development.   

As well as being an improvement lead, you are also a medical assessor for JAG and have experienced numerous services during your time. Could you give an insight into the qualities needed to become a medical assessor for JAG?  

I think you should be a clinical lead within your own unit. There must be some commitment to Endoscopy and the department. Secondly, you do need to have the deeper knowledge of the JAG standards because when you meet the standards, that’s when you deliver high quality and safe care to your patients.   

You should also have an interest in training, looking at the quality and effectiveness of it. You need to have the drive and enthusiasm to deliver good quality care. For me, every clinical lead in endoscopy should have the opportunity to become a medical assessor because it enhances your role and improves your skills and knowledge. You will become a more effective clinical lead.   

If there was someone reading this and thinking about becoming a medical assessor for JAG, what would you say to encourage them?   

I firmly believe that being a medical assessor will give you benefits by creating a more efficient, effective and competent clinical lead. When I became a clinical lead, I knew very little about competency, training, decontamination and managing waiting lists.   

When we have the meeting the evening before the visit, we sit together as a team, and I can ask questions and learn more about other areas of the JAG standards. When I came back to my department, I felt that I had a much deeper understanding of how my unit works and there for when things go wrong, I can make a much more sensible and appropriate decision.   

Being a medical assessor was transformational for me because I became a far more effective and proficient clinical lead. I became more competent in what I do. Now that I am in the improvement role, I am learning so much more about what I can do. Being a medical assessor gave me a springboard, and I would encourage all clinical leads to be medical assessors. That way you can learn so much more.   

You can read more about the medical assessor role in Ed’s blog

If you are thinking about being a medical assessor, then please get in touch with the JAG office askjag@rcp.ac.uk  You can make a big difference in improving patient care across the UK and ROI.