Back to work after a week-long holiday in the south of France. We discovered some of the fascinating history of Avignon, and I made a small dent in my backlog of books on my e-reader. I especially enjoyed: James Bridle, 'Ways of Being: Beyond Human Intelligence' Gill Kernick, 'Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the … Continue reading Weeknote: 8 to 12 August 2022 →

I took a week's holiday last week, visiting Venice and surrounding towns. Quite a lot happened while I was away, and I am grateful to my deputy, Jacqui, and other colleagues who handled it all without drama. Getting off the plane at Manchester Airport, I was hit by an unexpected wall of warm air: the … Continue reading Weeknote: 18 to 22 July 2022 →

What did I enjoy? Meeting people, some face-to-face for the first time, out for drinks to mark an NHS England colleague's retirement. There's a close-knit team around urgent care in the NHS national organisations. They've worked together for many years, and supported each other through the toughest of times both professionally and personally, but they're … Continue reading Weeknote: 27 June to 1 July 2022 →

What did I enjoy? A busy week, but a good one, in which I could see a number of things coming together. Barbara and Brin talked me through their plans for the digital enablers work in the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Strategy, and we had a good meeting with primary care colleagues as part … Continue reading Weeknote: 20 to 24 June 2022 →

Back to weeknotes after a short gap to write my reflections on 5 years in the NHS. What did you enjoy? Spending time with digital leaders from the ambulance sector. On Tuesday afternoon, a few colleagues and I had a Teams call with Abigail from North West Ambulance. The next morning I joined the monthly … Continue reading Weeknote: 13 to 17 June 2022 →

What did you enjoy? A trip to Norwich to visit the 111 contact centre there. Almost all of the NHS England Digital Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) team were there, along with Gareth, our clinical lead for integrated urgent care, and 4 colleagues from the 111 online team. What made the visit really powerful was … Continue reading Weeknote: 16 to 20 May 2022 →

What was hard? A workshop to consider how digital might support a changing service model in 111. I was proud of my team, and impressed by the way leaders from different organisations involved in the service approached some difficult things that needed to be said, and needed to be heard. Special credit to Ollie and … Continue reading Weeknote: 9 to 13 May 2022 →

Back to weeknotes after a short pause for the pre-election period. On Friday I reflected with colleagues that we'd packed a lot in, and it didn't feel like a four-day working week. I spent 2 days in the office, including impromptu face-to-face meetings with colleagues, because we happened to be in on the same day. … Continue reading Weeknote: 3 to 6 May 2022 →

What did you enjoy? I joined in with a Twitter chat under the hashtag #StartWithPeople, as a precursor to a virtual conference coming up on 28 April. Over the years I have seen some good practice in inclusive user-centred design and different ways of bringing people into national NHS decision-making, but there's so much more … Continue reading Weeknote: 4 to 8 April 2022 →

What did you enjoy? The chance to remotely observe a couple of user research sessions on web chat for 111 clinical consultations, bringing my 2 hours every 6 weeks commitment up to date. A demonstration by an urgent and emergency care system supplier of some new capabilities they're building for their customers who run 111 … Continue reading Weeknote: 28 March to 1 April 2022 →

I lost 2.5 days of this week to cold-like Covid symptoms. I'm feeling better now but still coughing and testing positive. While I was away, members of the digital UEC teams in NHS England and NHS Digital got to grips with an urgent request as part of our annual planning cycle. On Friday, my colleagues … Continue reading Weeknote: 21 to 25 March 2022 →

A different week this week, as I took 4 days off, before spending Friday visiting the IC24 integrated urgent care contact centre on Friday. Breaknote On Tuesday and Wednesday, Caroline and I had a night away in the Midlands, visiting pottery museums arond Stoke and the National Trust's Wightwick Manor. The picture above shows just … Continue reading Weeknote: 14 to 18 March 2022 →

What did I enjoy? Spending time away from the home office - not one, not two, but three different workplaces in one week. Monday at the Department of Health & Social Care in Victoria Street, London, for a first all-in-person Joint Digital Policy & Strategy senior leadership team, followed by a nice Italian dinner in … Continue reading Fortnightnote: 28 February to 11 March 2022 →

What did I enjoy? Wednesday in the Leeds office, which is becoming a regular habit. There weren't many of us in, but I did have a chance meeting with Jane, one of our small but brilliant commercial team, who I'd preciously only worked with via video calls. I was privileged to chair the Joint Digital … Continue reading Weeknote: 21 to 25 February 2022 →