I’ve been there since day 2…53 years ago and even now spend time relying on them to keep me healthy. There aren’t many organisations or people you trust 100% but the NHS is one of them. That’s why it’s so important.
I’ve also been involved in partnering clients in the NHS for 25 years. From the early days of “we must have an annual report “, through to the introduction of social marketing campaigns, self care awareness and right up to now where we are trying to support and educate citizens and health care professionals as to how we can improve outcomes, support people to live longer, improve the health and well-being of everyone, not just citizens, but the staff working in the NHS who need to be on top of their game every day. The changes are dramatic sometimes , I’ve seen it all. The shift from community health trusts to PCTs to CCGs to ICBs ( think I’ve even missed a few along the way!) But the focus on population health has never been clearer, with more evidence from data, evidence from stakeholder engagement and public insights – we are able to amplify the right educational messages into the right places, but we still lack the tools, resources and workforce to do this and sometimes a lack of sustainability-the not knowing what’s around the corner.
The need to improve people’s quality of lives and their mental health is at an all time high (it would seem through the evidence and investments into mental health) and this has changed the way we all approach our everyday lives. Not a day goes past without me asking “How are you keeping?” And If someone asks me – I tell them how I’m feeling – and yes I’ve had a rough and uncertain few months with my health, but I’m a positive thinker and trust the NHS to support me to have a good quality of life… So in 25 years I thought I’d share some insights into the amazing programmes of work and where we (clients/partners/providers/creative thinkers) have made a difference and I still get a buzz from the audience insights we receive and applying them to a project and seeing the impact and results it brings – but sometimes these successes are short term as they lack further funding or resources… which is a shame as every programme of work needs – a goal, commitment, people, funding, community involvement, partnerships, resources, educational support , time and communications through every touching point .. Together we can all do our bit… So here’s some of my favourite projects from 25 years …
Primary care Trust newsletters …. The amazing Katie Lockley would produce a monthly newsletter that would be shared across all stakeholders and healthcare locations – where better to read the latest updates and how you can look after your health whilst waiting to see a GP or in a healthcare setting. Katie produced this every month for the local PCT! Amazing. Creation of an NHS dental finder for a number of regions, simple process, search for a NHS dentist in your preferred location , the search would find availability, location , contact details etc. simple really but effective – the opportunity to develop this was there, however changes happen and sadly it was never recommissioned .. it may well be available now across ICB land somewhere , surely there’s a need for this if there isn’t one, especially for new parents looking to get their baby or infant starting their lifetime journey with a dentist. International recruitment for one of our local Trusts, recruiting consultants across Europe, Asia – not forgetting the display system being quarantined in India, luckily we had a back up plan…
But the essential recruitment needs for each organisation is there for us all to see and is paramount to improving services, some are battling for the same people – it’s a challenge for all providers to recruit, retain and re-energise the workforce.
Our work with maternity services has seen is work in partnership with the amazing team at All4maternity to educate international recruits whilst in their own settings.
NHS Talking Therapies Recruitment Campaign. Recently we delivered a digital comms campaign to support care homes to recruit new staff , focusing on the benefits and real life experiences of those working in the sector – this was delivered in partnership with the Lancashire and south Cumbria health and care partnership, in which our remit was to involve care home providers to assist with the whole campaign process, insight , interviews, stories and sharing of the campaign.
