For regular readers of the blog, I can report that our dog is safe and despite some photos posted on Facebook by "friends" who implied menace, Jasper enjoyed his 2 weeks in a house full of other four legged playmates.
And my daughter had an amazing trip to Tanzania and managed, with the help of neighbours, to return without us being here to meet her. In fact, better than that, she set up our new broadband service, desperate as she was to be back on line with her friends, did some washing and, most impressively, fixed the boiler when there was no hot water (It was one of the more comedy moments of our holiday as I was trying to explain to her how to lie on your back under the boiler, turn two taps to top up the water, whilst I was eating dinner in a beautiful taverna).
But surely, first week back blues? It has certainly been a busy week, but beautiful Devon welcomed us back and, as ever, there are always highlights amongst the workload
Highlights of the Week - 22nd August 2014 (@jeclo)
Highlights of the Week 1: The babysitters were brilliant; last week's blog was the most read ever-is that good?
Thanks to everyone who got involved in keeping the blog running over the last 2 weeks; I really enjoyed reading it in the sun and, from feedback, the team got a feel for how positive the experience can be. I especially found last week's piece on the tragic death of Robin Williams and the issues linked to mental health really interesting.
And it seems lots of other people did too - last week's blog received more page views than any other one I have written. The good part of my brain is delighted and it is exactly the outcome I would have wanted. The ego part, may have preferred that one of my thoughtful pieces previously would have achieved such acclaim!
But it has led to a number of discussions in the Locality and CCG about communication and the role that a blog can play in that. It also has a role in the life of the writer - the act of writing and remembering highlights definitely changes how I view a week and how to bring closure at the end of 5 days of turmoil. We'll see how many page views there are this week!
Highlights of the Week 2: BCF-Lots and lots of issues and work, but the focus is helpful
We have two BCFs to complete, one for Plymouth and one for Devon (where we work alongside South Devon and Torbay CCG). The latest guidance and change of emphasis only ramps up the level of complexity and the scale of the work effort both in this completion phase and, of course, for the delivery of a nationally set target of a 3.5% reduction in emergency activity.
We have redoubled our efforts this week with some additional support helping us to refresh our strategic narrative and the schemes that will underpin delivery. We assessed ourselves as having low confidence in achieving all the targets in the BCF - we believe this is a realistic assessment at this moment - and this means that our two BCFs figure within 7 in the south of England receiving additional external support and scrutiny.
All the different programmes we are working on interlink - so the BCF aspirations clearly fit within our work on integration and form part of the working with our "Local NHS Futures - transforming care in Devon and Plymouth" programme. This makes things slower initially, but the week on BCF does point to am emerging clarity of vision, ambition and detail.
Highlights of the Week 3: We need a Programme Director for "Local NHS Futures". Conversations are encouraging
In the last couple of hours before I went on leave the Programme Director that we thought we had secured didn't materialise. We desperately need this post to steer the programme over the next 6 months and to provide clear leadership across the community, so it was a real disappointment.
This week was therefore 5 further conversations with potential candidates and it feels like we will quickly be able to find a key leader to take on the role. The blend of skills are important; we need someone who has the expertise to run a complex programme office, where the complexity is heightened by the reliance on capacity within each organisation as well as a central office function.
We also need someone who has the presence to command respect from the range of senior leaders across the health and social care system and broker solutions to wicked problems. More positive and hopeful again this week
Highlights of the Week 4: Another meeting to agree a process to ramp up our work on financial recovery
We need to ramp up our efforts on financial recovery - as discussed here previously, we are carrying too much financial risk and the actions we have in place will fall short of achieving the level of change and savings we need.
It is hard to think of new ways to save money, but we have no choice. In previous incarnations of commissioning, such as District Health Authorities or PCTs, we would have looked across all of the budgets - such as direct provision, public health, primary care, capital and joint spend with local authorities - and found offsetting savings. These approaches just aren't available to CCGs.
The meeting this week did describe a new emphasis for our work and an approach that will both encourage and demand more input from across all parts of the organisation - it felt like a useful and purposeful way forward. We need to balance that with maintaining staff commitment and engagement.
Highlights of the Week 5: Joint Health and Social Care development group in Devon shows areas with potential
And the bit that keeps making more sense that most other things I get involved in, is the work we are doing with two local authorities on joining up commissioning and provision.
This week we were discussing our approaches to community services, Strategic Resilience groups and we spent a good amount of time looking at the current state of the personal care market, where the Council struggles in some parts of Devon to source enough capacity to meet demand, within the tight cost envelopes that they work to.
It was another area where it feels like we could do something together that would get better outcomes. Most importantly, the quality of the relationships between us that allow those discussions to happen go from strength to strength.
Busy then and managed to get involved in pouring ice cold water over my head - welcome home!
You can read other blogs related to the work of the Western Locality of NEW Devon CCG
About our workplan: Western Locality Workplan
About our Locality business: Western Locality Business
Jerry Clough is Chief Operating Officer for Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group. He is also Locality Managing Director for the Western Locality of the CCG covering Plymouth and the surrounding areas of South Hams and West Devon.
Previously Jerry has been a Chief Executive and Finance Director in the NHS before spending several years running his own business driving programmes of change and delivering executive coaching and team and Board development.
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