In a breakout room to the side of the Service Design in Government conference in Edinburgh, with a floor to ceiling view of Arthur’s Seat and a lawn where alpacas were led to graze, I chatted about service maps with a small group of my brilliant NHS Digital colleagues. I felt a little guilty keeping … Continue reading Worlds colliding – reflections 2 years into my work at NHS Digital
I was on a panel at the Digital Urgent & Emergency Care Conference, brilliantly chaired by Emma Mulqueeny. I wrote these notes as prompts for my contribution. Not everything here came up in the discussion but I thought the notes worth sharing anyway... The NHS Long Term Plan reflects society’s expectations of technology in all … Continue reading Challenges and changes – some notes for a panel session on delivering services
In 2015, Tom Loosemore asked if anyone had written a blog post about how “most of government is mostly service design most of the time”. I couldn’t find one, so I wrote it myself. Thanks in large part to a link from the awesome UK government design principles, that post has been viewed more than … Continue reading Mostly service design: the health and care edition
I was honoured to be invited to talk at Health Product People at the Department of Health and Social Care this week, especially so because I was on the same bill as Hadley, Ian and Kassandra, all of whom were brilliant. I loosely titled my talk “Stop disempowering people.” (Thanks to Ian for photo of me … Continue reading Stop disempowering people – a talk at Health Product People
A couple of Saturdays ago, still buzzing from a week of NHS website and service manual launches, and the NHS Expo, I took part in my first UK Health Camp. I learned loads, put faces to names I’d long followed from afar, and posed a question of my own to a windowless basement room full … Continue reading Brains trust: notes from my session at UK Healthcamp
Earlier this year I set out to understand more about the history of the National Health Service. As well as reading some books recommended by colleagues, I've picked up a few original 1948 documents from online auctions. Some archaic language aside, they're as fresh and relevant today as they were 70 years ago. Exhibit 1: … Continue reading 5 July 1948: A chance and a challenge
Other people's jobs are endlessly fascinating. At a birthday celebration a couple of years ago I got talking to Johnny, a family friend who works as an aquarium curator. He told me a surprising thing about his work: how little of his time he spends actually looking after the fish. Johnny's job is to look … Continue reading “Look after the water” – reflections 1 year into my work at NHS Digital
So, narrative capital. The social scientist has it like this... ... the power [research participants] have to tell the stories of their lives. This ‘narrative capital’ is then located in the ‘field’ of social science research and Sen’s capability approach is introduced to prompt the question: What real opportunities do research participants have to tell … Continue reading Who wants to be a story millionaire? Some thoughts on the value of Patient Opinion
There are lots of reasons to come along to Leeds Service Design Thinks on Tuesday 14 September. So many that it's hard to know where to start. I could begin with the chance to meet and chat with some of the smart and passionate service designers who made it to our first Service Design Drinks … Continue reading Service Design Leeds, from Drinks to Thinks
Matt Edgar writes here 