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 leadership team, of which I’m a member, with the senior leadership of the Primary Care and Community Services group. We compared notes on our input to an organisation-wide planning process, and committed to keep in touch so that digital services and policy advice are aligned.
Tuesday
Our own Digital Urgent & Emergency Care (UEC) Assurance Board. On the agenda, interoperability between 111 and 999 services, how we’re supporting referrals to pharmacies, the sourcing of data about health services, and an update on the patient experience of first contact for a new health problem.
In a one-to-one with Helen, my exec director, I talked about an escalation I had to make to ensure business continuity in one of our live services. Helen challenged me and my team to be a bit savvier in how we respond to requests for information, so we give senior leaders the information they need in a form they can act on. That’s going to be really important in the coming weeks.
Wednesday
I cycled to work for the first time in ages, and took part in an all-staff call for colleagues in Digital UEC. I talked about the priorities my leadership team has right now: delivering our commitments in support of 111 and 999 performance this year; on-boarding new staff and supplier partners to our teams; and the work we’re doing to support the shaping of future plans. I also talked about our team culture based on some important but hard-to-hear feedback from a recent staff survey.
Thursday
Cycled in for a second day running, tethering my bike outside the polling station while I popped in to vote. In the office, I had a series of back-to-back calls, including the weekly Digital UEC leadership team meeting.
Just around the corner from my desk, my friends from the NHS Digital Academy team were doing a user-centred design training session together. When they spotted my objectives on the wall by my desk, they incorporated them into their training. We had a great conversation about ways of choosing which metrics to focus on, and why it’s so important to measure things that reflect the real outcomes for our users.
Friday
Our National Health Service’s 76th birthday! I got up early to see the election results and worked from home, catching up with colleagues on Teams, and going through my emails. I spent some time reviewing my portfolio’s monthly highlight report, with Helen’s advice from earlier in the week at the front of my mind.
We have lots to do!
Matt Edgar writes here 