What did I enjoy?
Getting back to work at the London and Leeds offices in the gorgeous sunshine. I worked at Waterloo on Monday, Canary Wharf on Tuesday, back home in Leeds on Wednesday, and the Leeds government hub on Thursday and Friday.
Across the week, I enjoyed catching up with colleagues who are all digesting the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England, understanding what it means for their work, what might need to speed up, and what we might need to do less of so we can focus on the right things.
What does the new plan mean to me?
My team of teams work for the past year on access, triage and navigation has been laying the foundations for a consistent, intelligent, 24/7 access model, where people’s needs are identified early and matched to the right level of care or self care, and the assets of the NHS and the tech sector are aligned to unlock navigation that works for everyone.
Highlights of the 10 Year Plan for me included:
- deliver equal access – to create the most digitally accessible health system in the world
- end the 8am scramble by training thousands more GPs and building online advice into the NHS App
- neighbourhood health centres open at least 12 hours a day and 6 days a week
- allow patients to book appointments, communicate with professionals, receive advice, draft or view their care plan, and self-refer to local tests and services
- support patients to book into the most appropriate urgent care service for them, via 111 or the app, before attending
- by 2028, the app will be a full front door to the entire NHS.
Of course the plan goes much wider than that. It’s a plan for health, not only a plan for the NHS. I’m excited to explore how we as national patient-facing teams in the NHS partner with people, organisations and communities to make it happen.
What else inspired me?
On Monday the government published Dr Penny Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape in England. This matters to me as a non-clinical manager supporting services that make a big contribution to safety and quality of care.
But I was particularly inspired by the way this review connected quality and safety with patient experience.
Finding 4: a large number of organisations look at user experience or advocate on behalf of the ‘voice of the user’, yet few boards in the NHS have an executive director for user or customer experience
Multiple organisations:
- carry out surveys
- ‘listen to communities’
- support the co-design of care
- advocate for patients and users
This causes confusion for patients and users, who are unsure about the status of different groups, and results in inefficiencies, sub-scale inputs and a failure to ensure representativeness. Their distance from the commissioners and providers of health and care risks a lack of action and change.
At the same time, it is notable that most NHS boards lack an executive director for customer or user experience, which is the norm in other consumer-focused industries.
Back in 2019, I completed the NHS Leadership Academy’s Nye Bevan Programme for senior leaders looking to move into a board role. My research and reflection then pointed to the board level gap that Penny has identified in her review. Putting it out here, because if you don’t ask, you don’t get: I would love to be involved in shaping this new generation of Chief Experience Officer roles for health and care.
What do I need to take care of?
If you’re sighing as you read my enthusiastic embrace of the new and visionary stuff above… I know. That’s all very well, but what about the pressures we face here and now? What about the people who don’t have reliable access to a smartphone or the data to use it? The frail and elderly patients who rely on the human touch? The thousands of staff doing their best at work this week while carrying the mental burden of knowing their jobs may be as risk as their organisations are radically reshaped or abolished? We have to be clear that we are doubling down on the changes above in the next few years because of these stark realities, not in spite of them.
On Thursday we had an all staff event for colleagues in our Products and Platforms teams. On Friday, Vin, Ming, and Alex, three of our transformation directorate and digital leaders came to Leeds to spend time with staff presenting the 10 Year Plan, the recent Spending Review, and how we need to work together to deliver those ambitions. In both sessions, colleagues asked good questions and got honest answers.
We need that culture more than ever: where everyone can ask questions about the work, assuming competence and good intent in others, and have their concerns addressed in good faith. I’m under no illusions, this is really hard work. We need everyone to be able to bring their talents and perspectives to help make it happen.
Matt Edgar writes here 