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 →

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 →

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 →

What did I learn? Two days at Cranfield for the last module of the Project Leadership Programme. I enjoyed David Denyer's session on creating a resilient organisation, which seemed especially relevant to my work supporting urgent and emergency care. In another session, we were invited to look again at the "7 lenses of transformation", which … Continue reading Fortnightnote: 15 to 26 May 2023 →

What did I enjoy? Getting out of the building on Thursday with a rain-drenched tour of some 54North homes in York. I'm a non-exec director of 54North, which was formed recently from the merger of Leeds & Yorkshire and York Housing Associations. The exec team seem to be doing a great job of bringing the … Continue reading Weeknote: 9 to 12 May 2023 →

  What did I enjoy? The Leeds hub for the new NHS England is starting to get busier, and chance conversations with colleagues are getting more frequent. I managed to cycle in on 3 out of the 4 working days, but got the bus on Friday when it was raining. I'm only a fair weather … Continue reading Weeknote: 2 to 5 May 2023 →

A short week because of the Easter bank holiday break, but I packed a lot into 3 working days. Monday In the Leeds office, a planning call for the week ahead on work toward our Product teams' future operating model, an all staff call led by senior leaders to welcome colleagues from Health Education England, … Continue reading Short weeknote: 3 to 5 April 2023 →

What did I learn? In a team "away day" in the Canary Wharf office with our executive director, Helen, and other members of her senior leadership team, we took some time at the start to listen to Professor Geoff Bird from the University of Oxford, before thinking together about the strengths in our team, and … Continue reading Weeknote: 27 to 31 March 2023 →

What did I learn? Three out of five days were taken up with module three of the Project Leadership Programme (PLP) at Cranfield University. Having switched cohorts due to a work commitment after module one, this time I felt I knew my fellow participants a little better, and enjoyed breaktime and dinner conversation with them, … Continue reading Weeknote: 6 to 10 March 2023 →

Call to action "If you were talking to a patient about how to access services, what would you say?" I joined a meeting with some very senior leaders, led by colleagues from the NHS England strategy team, who are doing a rapid piece of work to help us answer that question more clearly. Service access … Continue reading Weeknote: 27 February to 3 March 2023 →