It takes about 20 minutes of hard uphill grind with dog in tow to get to the top of Ugborough Beacon. It's quicker without him with regular toilet stops (for Jasper!) slowing down the overall progress, but that does mean a less fanatical approach and more time to look over the rolling hills of the South Hams and out to sea. The really enjoyable part is that the rest of the hour is all downhill and, on a crisp morning, is stunning.
Running is an important part of the management of a busy week for me, ensuring both head and body are in good shape to deal with the pressures and four early mornings this week mean I feel good at the end of the week and not in quite the same "thank Crunchie it's Friday" mood as last week.
Highlights of the Week (@jeclo)
Highlights of the Week 1: Integrated Governance reporting at our Locality Board
We have worked really hard on our integrated governance reporting with each locality in the CCG producing an Integrated Governance Report covering patient safety, finance, performance and other commissioning areas. Our risk template process pulls the highest risk areas from the risk registers and ensures there is a clear, concise summary in front of the Board.
That sounds fairly dull, but the reality is that across the three Localities and Partnerships there is a real sense that integrated governance, with a strong focus on patient safety and patient experience, is front and centre.
Stroke performance at Plymouth Hospitals has had a risk template for a while and as a result the Board wanted a "deep dive" this month. It was good to note some improvements in performance and the work the team are doing to support the Trust in making those changes. The Board wasn't totally assured, but they were pleased to see the depth of the work that sits behind the summary
I do enjoy the Plymouth Health and Wellbeing Board. It has a wide membership so feels like a very positive discussion. The Police and Crime Commissioner, sits alongside Plymouth Community Homes or Plymouth Community Healthcare Chief Executives and when discussing the impact of alcohol in the City with the Director of Public Health, this makes for a well informed debate.
Both the Better Care Fund and our strategic plan have been to the H&WB before - we have shared both at an early stage and had an informal 'solution shop' for members on the BCF to explore the potential in some depth.
We have huge ambition around integration and it is hard to capture that within the confines of a Fund that we are focussing at the services that wrap around hospital admission and discharge in the first instance. What was great to report to the Board was the level of joint working between the CCG and the Council. We are totally aligned on how we are taking integration and the BCF forward, despite the pressures on our different systems and it does mean that the Board was focussed on the impact for people, rather than on judging our different intent.
Highlights of the Week 3: My first use of our new strengths based appraisal system
It is not revolutionary, but we have worked hard to back our development work using a strengths based leadership approach, with the ways we work in the CCG. One aspect of this is to have an appraisal system that takes a strengths focus.
So I sat with Debbie this week and listened to the things that she has excelled at over the last year and that have energised her. We explored what it was about those projects and achievements that she felt most drew on her strengths and then looked at how she could make more of those in the year to come. Her objectives are therefore based on making more of her strengths and we managed the whole discussion without any focus on her weaknesses.
It might sound a bit fluffy, but the reality is that of course Debbie touched on the things that haven't gone well - strengths focus doesn't mean problem phobic - but it was much more enjoyable to assess how the things she does well could be used to address them.
Highlights of the Week 4: Individuals at the Centre has a life of its own
I keep tweeting about our Individuals at the Centre programme and the 5 teams who are coming towards the end of their 9 month learning journey. The finish line is looming and there are working really hard to enjoy their work is getting to the outcomes they had hoped.
And of course, most are blown away by how far they are exceeding them.
This week we had a member of the public at our Locality Board using a public questions' slot to feedback on an event she had been to earlier in the week - a patient involvement event for people with psoriasis and eczema. The preceding challenging questions had me prepared for another difficult moment.
But she wanted the Board to know how amazing the event had been, how inspiring the team were who were running it and how impressed she was with their energy and enthusiasm. As I explained to the Board, this is what can happen if you give people the freedom to come up with ideas for themselves - no senior oversight of direction, just support for their journey and a lot of faith in the process (and some crossing of fingers!)
I also talked to a member of another group who was preparing for her annual appraisal and commented that she was really looking forward to the section on how she lives out the values of the organisation (a new part of the appraisal paperwork) as she feels like she has a little bird perched on her shoulder called IATC that constantly reminds her.
Priceless!
Highlights of the Week 5: The joys of the open plan office
The CCG office in Plymouth is co-located with Plymouth City Council in a large open plan building. I was no fan of open plan, but it has been amazing for how we work as a team and interact with other staff from the CCG and Council. It is helped by having technology such as phones that work through headsets on the computer so there are no phones ringing everywhere and no loud conversations. But it is large enough that the background noise becomes a hubbub rather than distracting.
Most of the time....
This week there have been moments when I have joined in the conversations about new dresses, haircuts, pregnancy, football etc along with up to 30 other people, but the shared laughter across the office as a result is really powerful in terms of what keeps us all together as a team.
We have 3 offices amongst the open plan - designated for me, the Chair and the Locality Chief Finance Officer, but we pretty much don't use them and are usually out in the open plan keeping in touch with how the place feels and the team conversations.
Today was birthday cakes - one of the downsides is there always seems to be cakes around.... perhaps not a downside unless you're running to keep fit.....!
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