Resilience

Interestingly, I had a 360 degree appraisal recently, and the common theme coming through was about how I need to develop resilience. I have certainly had that tested this last week or so as I have juggled a number of fast spinning plates above my head. Not only have I bought a new car, I have moved house, sat exams, given a graded presentation and written a fairly lengthy and heavily weighted essay. Having survived all of that, with only a slight sob in the secrecy of my own garage, I would say...resilience is well on the way to being developed...hurrah!

Next set of challenges include; Foundation Trust elections, 8.5 hour flight and sale of old car, oh and lets not forget the all encompassing dissertation! Bring it on I say!

Emerging Leaders

There has been quite a bit of coverage of late in relation to NHS management and how it nurtures talent from within. I guess I am slightly biased in that I have recently been through the process for applying for the NHS Emerging Leaders Programme and I am so pleased that the NHS is looking internally at its talent pool. So often is it the case that Trusts bring external people in to fill a gap in management because they need someone quickly and someone who can hit the ground running as it were. But actually, if they start to develop people with that raw talent for leadership now, they won't be fire-fighting. There will be people already in that organisation, ready to step into the breach. People who are already known, have built up strong and productive relationships and who are in a much better place to develop Trust with the people who use services, staff and stakeholders.


I met with my Chief Executive on Thursday morning to discuss this very topic (prior to my interview). He helped me to think through my feelings of leadership and how, as a leader, I would want to develop and behave. So I thought I would share this with you;


For me, leadership is about managing scales of change, its about building strong and action oriented relationships, its about living my values and instilling values in others and its about building narrative (a story, strategy, whatever you like to call it). So why is good leadership important? Well I think good leadership builds Trust, particularly now when there are so many economic challenges, when things are going to be tough, and when as leaders, we will need to be honest with the public about some tough decisions. How do you demonstrate good leadership? For me its about generating energy and giving guidance, its about building strong alliances to get us through these challenging times and its about making sure that action happens.


The NHS Emerging Leaders Programme is important to me because I know I have the capacity but I want to develop some capability. I am values driven and I have made a promise to make sure that the voice of the people who use health services are heard, considered and used to influence positive change. I want to be able to share my values and operationalise my passion..but I need help in learning how best to do this. So for me, this programme is a fantastic opportunity. Its an investment for the future. Its 'growing your own' in its purest form. So in a nutshell...it is 2 thumbs up from me!

Who do I want running the NHS?

Tough question to answer given the current political climate! I do feel as a voter that there needs to be some sort of manifesto bind. How many promises have been made in the past during the run up to an election that have never again made an appearance?!? Quite a few I would say.

My main concern, not just as someone who works for the health service but as someone who uses health services is that neither main political party seem to be giving any clear indication of what their plans are for the future of the NHS.

However, my main frustration and to be quite frank, this is something that has infuriated me during the last week is the remarks which were made by Andy Burnham in last week's edition of the Health Service Journal (HSJ). He was quoted as agreeing with the phrase used to describe NHS membership as a "damp squib" and this has upset me (to say the least). I attended an NHS confederation conference this week in London where I was able to listen to speakers from different NHS Trusts around the country and I was very proud to be a part of the work being done around service user and carer involvement. There are some shining examples of NHS organisations who make it their mission to make sure that the ideas, views and opinions of the people using their services are listened to, taken into consideration and acted upon every single day. How then can our very own Health Secretary claim that our members are nothing more than a flash in the pan, when there is plenty of evidence which demonstrates that this is quite the contrary?

How do you plan for the future?

I have spent most of today and yesterday trying to pull together a Business Plan for a social enterprise, which my team and I are trying to develop. I have to admit, it is more difficult than I imagined! There are so many factors to consider. For example, I need to produce my plan based on a market analysis...but isn't that only as good as the day you do it?!? I guess there will be iterations along the way in terms of analysis and strategy but I have to say...this is no mean feat! I am pleased to welcome a few new members to my team though and I will be able to introduce these to you over the next few weeks...very exciting!

NHS Constitution

Just to let you all know about the latest consultation on the NHS Constitution. There have been a few sugested additions in terms of patient rights;

• treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from a GP referral and to be seen by a cancer specialist within 2 weeks from a GP referral, or where this is not possible, for the NHS to take reasonable steps to offer a range of alternative providers; and
• NHS Health Checks for those aged 40 to 74 to assess their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease

Its really important the the constitution represents the views of everyone who uses the health system so please log on and add your comments!

http://www.leicspt.nhs.uk/Aboutus-TheNHSConstitution.cms

Food for thought...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/health/newsid_10000000/newsid_10004400/10004491.stm

First of all, I am really pleased to read that since Eastenders developed the storyline of a young person with Bipolar Disorder, the number of young people seeking help has doubled. So yes, the storyline has helped to raise awareness, but has it helped with regards to reducing stigma? The proof will be in the pudding I think.

On another note, I thought I would tell you about my rant which my other half had to suffer last night. Basically, I have to say I am utterly dissapointed that during the weeks of snow and all of the media hype about grit, the economy and traffic on the roads, I did not see one mention of the impact this particularly awful weather was having on the homeless and what wonderful work, charities and other organisations were doing to try and keep people safe and warm. This was a real opportunity to highlight the strain which these services are under and we missed it. I just feel that for the last few weeks we have very much come across as having no thought for these people.

Anyway, as I say, food for thought today.

Slight delay...

Well, I hope all readers had a great Christmas and New Year! This year promises to be full of new ventures in the world of social enterprise and health and I can't wait to update you all with the progress over the coming months.

My role is ever evolving and I am now the Trust lead for social enterprise business development, partnerships and community involvement...quite a mouth full!

The elections for our Council of Governors has been delayed slightly along with all other NHS organisations due to the current political climate in terms of an ever declining financial economy for health and social care and political issues. However, what we do want to move on is the idea of a prospective governor forum for those members who are interested in becoming a governor and who want to start to get to know us better...I will keep you posted!

In the mean time, we have all sorts of ideas for social enterprises aimed at increasing inclusion and equality and I have a fantastic team of people working with me to start to take some of these ideas forwards...in fact I am bursting with excitement!!!

It’s all steam ahead people...