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 conditions. This will make things better for patients, and free up time in general practice for the patients who need a GP consultation. Digital Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) teams played a big part in the launch by updating triage algorithms, along with thousands of service directory entries, so that patients using 111 online and on the phone could be directed to a pharmacy from the very first day of the initiative.
Another great fortnightly show and tell from the team working on the patient experience of first contact with the NHS. The team have really put empathy for patients and carers at the heart of their findings, and this sets them up well to work with other teams as we scale out for the next phase of this work in the coming weeks.
What did you learn?
I observed the National Clinical Assurance Group where leading clinicians oversee our work, including NHS Pathways, our clinical decision support system for UEC. I’m not a clinician, and I defer to their deep expertise when it comes to the medical science that makes our services safe and effective.
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation?
On Monday, we had a challenge session with some critical friends from other NHS organisations to get feedback on our future plans for national products and services.
After work on Wednesday, I went along to a digital health meetup at Leeds University. I enjoyed catching up with friends and former colleagues from the Leeds digital health scene, hearing about the work of academics and students in School of Computing which hosted the event, and meeting visitors from the Scandinavian health tech sector.
What do you wish you could have changed?
I was disappointed and concerned by the process and quality of one piece of work that was shared with me for review. This led to a long and frank discussion with a colleague who is drafting it. I realised that our bit of the new NHS England lacks some important skills that I took for granted in the previous incarnation of our organisation. We’ve also lost some corporate memory, which might have prevented the work from going so far off-track that radical course correction is now required.
Would it have gone so wrong if colleagues had been colocated, allowing more ambient awareness of each other’s work? This week, NHS England people were told about the new organisation’s decision to move to at least 40% in-person working for office-based staff. I already spend most of my working time in the NHS’s Leeds headquarters at Wellington Place, and have been enjoying the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues who used to be spread across multiple sites in the city. But I also know that changing work patterns has a big impact on colleagues, especially those with caring responsibilities. I am committed to implementing the new policy for my team with care and compassion.
What would you have liked to do more of?
I sense the ticking clock of our business planning process, but not much happened on it this week. Next week, I hope to have more time with team working on plans for next year, coupled with the outcomes and benefits that we intend to unlock for the NHS.
What are you looking forward to next week?
On Monday, we have a leadership forum for the Transformation Directorate, which my teams are a part of. Later in the week I’ll be in London for a quarterly planning session focused on our work to make the most of the NHS App and other national digital products for patients and the public.
I’ll also be discussing my performance objectives for 2024-25 with my manager, and looking forward to her feedback.
Matt Edgar writes here 