A New Year's Day trip to the Museum of Power near Maldon, Essex I enjoyed the quiet days at the start of the year, and while the sparkle of Christmas is lovely, I also appreciated the space and calm after the decorations came down. Along with colleagues I made a start on our plans for … Continue reading Fortnightnote: 2 to 12 January 2024
View from Quarry House, where I worked for the day on Monday What did you enjoy? The London leg of our "welcome to Product & Platforms" events. I was pleased that colleagues came into the office for this informal event, with special thanks to the people who baked cakes and cookies to share. We welcomed … Continue reading Weeknote: 20 to 24 November 2023
View from the train along the Medway on my way to visit South East Coast Ambulance Service Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? A visit to South East Coast Ambulance Service's new Gillingham site. The 999 and 111 call centres are located above a make-ready centre where ambulances are cleaned and restocked … Continue reading Weeknote: 13 to 17 November 2023
Autumnal scene on my walk to the bus stop Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? I spent Tuesday morning at Google's King's Cross office in London with members of the government digital leadership community. I enjoyed catching up with some former colleagues and current allies in government digital transformation, and learned about … Continue reading Weeknote: 6 to 10 November 2023
What did you enjoy? Friday was the one clear, dry, calm day of the week in Leeds, so I took the opportunity to get back on my bike. In previous years I've struggled to keep up the cycling to work habit after the clocks went back. Promising myself that this year will be different, I … Continue reading Weeknote: 30 October to 3 November 2023
I'm on the sofa (terrible posture) with a cup of coffee and my laptop typing out the first set of weeknotes I've published since the end of August. I didn't mean to take a break, but it's OK that I did. As a recap, I write weeknotes for my own benefit, as a way of … Continue reading Back to weeknotes after a hiatus: 23 to 27 October 2023
Back on the in-person speaking trail after quite a long time away, I was invited to speak at Digital Government North about "the human side of digital transformation". I liked the way the organisers drew together the themes of working with users, frontline staff, and digital specialists. Cheekily, I reused the same slides and outline … Continue reading The humans of digital transformation – a talk for Digital Government North, and reprised for the GDS Speaker Series
What did I enjoy? A session in which Laura and Imogen talked us through the approach to prioritisation that they've been working on for our portfolio. This has been quite a long time coming, because there are several tensions to hold in balance. We need to: ensure we're responsive to the immediate needs of a … Continue reading Weeknote: 31 July to 4 August 2023
Back to work after a much-needed 2-week holiday in southern Germany. What did I enjoy? Being back in the office, refreshed after my holiday. The new NHS England Leeds office is a great place to work, and getting busier with colleagues from various product teams. On Wednesday I joined members of our Patient and Public … Continue reading Weeknote: 24 to 28 July 2023
As part of the NHS 75th anniversary year, I volunteered to give a talk to the year 10 students at a high school in Bradford. They listened well and asked good questions. These are my notes, more or less as delivered on the day... In the Summer of 1948, leaflets like this were dropping through … Continue reading Care and compassion at the limits of science: a school talk for the NHS 75th birthday
What did I enjoy? A chance to meet with members of the 111 online team in person as part of their monthly team day in London. I enjoyed the show and tell, including a proper live demo by one of the developers of the work he's doing to integrate the service with NHS login. Later … Continue reading Weeknote: 26 to 30 June 2023
Five days enjoying the air conditioned Leeds office. I cycled in every day. On Thursday and Friday, I took longer, cooler, more scenic routes home rather than slog back up Chapeltown Road in the early evening heat. Even though most of my meetings were on Teams, I gain a lot from being in the same … Continue reading Weeknote: 19 to 23 June 2023
What did I enjoy? Five days in the Leeds Wellington Place office. The hot weather brought many office workers onto the boulevards outside and I enjoyed a couple of lunchtime wanders, including a bagel and a chat with Pete up on the new Monk Bridge Viaduct urban garden. My calendar seemed more relaxed this week. … Continue reading Weeknote: 12 to 16 June 2023
Another two week note, as I used the time I would have set aside for last week's note to write my reflections on a sixth year in the NHS. What did I learn? Over the past couple of weeks I've had calls with people leading various high priority initiatives arising from the Urgent and Emergency … Continue reading Fortnightnote: 30 May to 9 June 2023
The view I chose for the top of my five year reflections no longer exists. A year ago, I captured a beautiful fiery sunset over Leeds city centre from the window of Quarry House. If I stood in the same spot today I’d see only the brick slip clad walls of the massive new block … Continue reading Another view: Reflections on a sixth year in the NHS
Matt Edgar writes here 