The end of NHS England
It’s been a tough week for people in NHS England (NHSE). I’m not sure how much I can say about the restructuring. NHSE has done great, important things. I’m sad to see the toll the uncertainty is taking on the people who work there. For now, everyone is carrying on, waiting for clarity.
If you’re wondering what NHSE is – it’s the policy and digital part of how the NHS is run in England. As Simon Wilson said on Bluesky, “most ordinary people out there think ‘NHS England‘ is the English bit of the NHS.”
Artificial intelligence (AI)
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about AI this week. ‘Add AI’ is the new ‘we need an app’. There’s clear benefits to using AI, but as ever, it’s getting the basics right that matters.
Can we use AI to help get those basics right? I’m not sure.
Can we use the promise of AI to get the coverage we need to get the basics right? Hopefully.
Once those basics are right, is there a benefit to using AI? Definitely.
Big room planning
Platforms and Products (which Digital Prevention Services belongs to) held ‘big room planning’. It’s a day where teams show what their working on.
There’s not much planning, but it’s useful way to get an oversight of what’s happening around us and get to know the people doing it.
It was bittersweet to see so much brilliant work on the same day that the end of NHSE was announced. Hopefully it all continues.
There were clear themes that emerged from the day. Lots of people doing similar work for different parts of the patient journey. New people to align with.
Digital prevention service design history
Design histories are a great way to make your work open.
Digital prevention services put its design history site live. Thanks to Frankie Roberto for making this happen.
None of the teams in my bit have published a design history yet, but there are some in the works.
In Teacher Services at DfE, design histories were part of the how we worked. The ability to understand what others have done, refer people to relevant work, or remind yourself of why you did something is hugely valuable.
Services week
Next week is services week, Sarah Fisher and I running a session at services week next week. It’s called ‘Stop mapping, start doing’.
Looking forward to it.
Unrelated – I posted a joke I’m very proud of.