Quantum computer in an office foyer What did I do to avoid disempowering people? I listened. Specifically, I listened in on a user research session with a woman who recently had a baby (burbling in the background of the Teams call :) One of our teams is looking at improving digital self-referral to maternity services, … Continue reading Fortnightnote: 7 to 18 October 2024
A month has passed since we finally moved in, my wife, my youngest son, and I, joined on weekdays by my nephew who's at sixth form in Leeds. Oh, and also the cat of whom more later. I might have hinted in my weeknotes, but only now do I dare to write about the entire, … Continue reading The new house
Some new house DIY: Stripping back the layers of gloss paint to reveal what's hidden beneath What did I enjoy? Seeing the First Contact work coming together in a steering group meeting on Monday, followed by show and tell on Wednesday. My senior leadership team colleagues injected the right amount of support and challenge to … Continue reading Weeknote: 30 September to 4 October 2024
Enjoying the garden at the new house What did I enjoy? Spending time with my peers and the Product & Platforms senior leadership team, and with my own leadership team for Digital Urgent & Emergency Care (UEC). Both teams have now been fully staffed and stable for long enough that we can have rich conversations … Continue reading Weeknote: 23 to 27 September 2024
Heritage Open Days trip to the Fulneck Moravian Settlement Back to weeknotes after a hiatus brought about by - variously - a change of government, the summer holidays, and a house move. Song of the week: Yard Act - Fixer Upper. I had planned 10 days off for the move, but ended up taking a … Continue reading Back to weeknotes: 16 to 20 September 2024
Back to weeknoting after the election period. I write these notes for my own benefit, to reflect on what went on in my working week. I share my weeknotes online because I reflect more deeply, and write more thoughtfully when anyone could be reading. Monday A meeting of the new NHS England's Product & Platforms … Continue reading Weeknote: 1 to 5 July 2024
Getting out of the building to visit a 111 contact centre in Derby What did I enjoy? I spent Wednesday in Derby with members of my Digital Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) team, including a visit to the NHS 111 contact centre run by DHU Healthcare. We were all made very welcome, and were privileged … Continue reading Weeknote: 13 to 17 May 2024
Writing my weeknotes in the garden A four-day week, the sun came out, I went to a ball, there were ups and downs, and some difficult but important conversations. Tuesday I cycled into the office for the first time in ages, and was glad of a relatively meeting-free day. I had blocked out time at … Continue reading Weeknote: 7 to 10 May 2024
Beginning of Spring An undocumented feature of my long-term weeknote habit is that every now and then WordPress related posts reminds me of another week in the dim distant past when I was rambling about the same stuff. 5 years ago this week I was in the midst of a corporate reorganisation, the consequences of … Continue reading Weeknote: 2 to 5 April 2024
A four day week, but we packed a lot in, and much of it not appropriate to rehearse in my public weeknotes. Some highlights The picture at the top of the post shows the chocolate bunnies I bought for my leadership team at our monthly in-person meet-up in the Leeds Hub. We spent the start … Continue reading Weeknote: 25 to 28 March 2024
Trip to Cartwright Hall, Bradford On the bright side I spent time in both our London offices as well as the Leeds one which is my usual base. At all three locations, I managed impromptu chats with colleagues who I wouldn't otherwise have caught up with. An intro meeting with Jenny who is taking up … Continue reading Weeknote: 18 to 22 March 2024
View from the Leeds hub What did I enjoy? A long but rewarding day on Wednesday. I got the early train to London to discuss shared objectives with my colleagues in the new NHS England Product and Platforms senior leadership team. Each of us has our own portfolio-specific objectives for 2024-25, but in this session … Continue reading Weeknote: 11 to 15 March 2024
More pics from my week in Taiwan on my Mastodon feed Back from a week-and-a-bit of leave and barely a moment since to pause and reflect. Times like this make #weeknotes extra valuable. What was hard? Cognitive dissonance: the perception of contradictory information and the mental toll of it On one hand, digitally-informed transformation of … Continue reading Weeknote: 4 to 8 March 2024
The brutalist former Bank of England headquarters on my walk to the Leeds office What did you enjoy? A workshop in London to look together at the shared roadmaps for work on the NHS App and other national digital channels in the NHS. We're getting better at this quarterly planning rhythm and it really helps … Continue reading Weeknote: 5 to 9 February 2024
Joseph Moxon, 'Practical perspective; or Perspective made easie', on display at Leeds University What did you enjoy? Seeing my team members collaborating with colleagues from across the new NHS England on the launch of the Pharmacy First initiative, which means that patients can now go straight to a pharmacists for help with some common health … Continue reading Weeknote: 29 January to 2 February 2024
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