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 →

What did I enjoy? A couple of sessions with digital urgent & emergency care (UEC) colleagues on our strategy and programme benefits. Having a sharper focus on realising actual outcomes from our work has been one of my top two mantras ever since I took on this role last year. (The other is the need … Continue reading Weeknote: 14 to 18 February 2022 →

What did I experiment with? This week felt a bit like emerging from winter. It's now light enough that on two mornings I got out for a short bike ride before starting work for the day. On Wednesday, I had an old laptop to return to Quarry House, the office base I've barely visited since … Continue reading Weeknote: 7 to 11 February 2022 →

I don't usually do my weeknotes as a march through the days, but it seems appropriate for this week, as a time of transition. This was the last week of working under the NHSX brand, before my directorate and I become part of the new NHS England Transformation Directorate. Monday We started the week in … Continue reading Weeknote: 31 January to 4 February 2022 →

What did I experiment with? In an NHSX senior leadership team meeting, I had an opportunity to highlight some things we need to keep hold of as we move to a new chapter in NHS transformation. I think we're still feeling our way into telling this story in ways that will make sense to our … Continue reading Weeknote: 24 to 28 January 2022 →

What did I experiment with? Stepping in to look after my wider directorate on an interim basis means I have to support my colleagues to make sense of change while we all have imperfect information. The remote nature of our collaboration right now makes that especially challenging. I realise I've spent more time than usual … Continue reading Weeknote: 17 to 21 January 2022 →

What did I experiment with? Getting out for a short cycle ride around midday on 3 out of 5 days. It makes the most of the daylight and gives me thinking time away from screens and other distractions. What was hard? Maybe it's the approaching 2 year point of not working together in offices, maybe … Continue reading Weeknote: 10 to 14 January 2022 →