The peace and quiet of my
mindfulness relaxation was shattered last week by the arrival of two fighter
jets. Their engine noise filled the sky and I was sure the bench I was sitting on
vibrated. I had no idea what type of plane they were (chickens, not fighter
planes, are my thing) but up there against a strikingly blue sky, they looked
like those planes children make from folded paper. However, I was kind of
hoping they came from the F 35 family. After my initial annoyance at their
arrival, I became fascinated by the sheer beauty of their aerobatics as they
roared around the sky, high above the sea. Their display was graceful, powerful
and totally captivating. The pilots flew their planes in what seemed to be
purposeful long moves, each plane mirroring the other and doing so with absolute
precision. After five or six minutes they roared away, as fast as they had come
and soon the quietness of the morning returned.
Now some readers of this blog may
find me waxing lyrical about these planes as being slightly strange. But stick
with me please. Officially these aircraft are described as stealth multi-role
fighters. They are a fifth-generation combat aircraft specifically designed to
perform ground-attack and air superiority missions. In other words, they are
weapons of war. Interestingly though, despite being around since 2006 the first
time an F 35 was used in a combat mission by any country was May 22nd
2018. It was used by the Israeli Air Force, and later that same year, the US
used the F 35 to attack a Taliban target in Afghanistan.
Ten countries are involved in the
production of these planes, with the US and UK being the principle development investors.
The UK is committed to buying 48 of them, possibly up to 138 in total over the next
20 years. 500 companies in the UK are involved in producing parts for the plane,
and there are a lot of them too – some 300,000 parts, and each plane has some 8.3
million lines of computer code that are required to operate them. For every 1 hour
of flight time, 10 hours are required for safety inspection and maintenance. The
planes are based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, but even if they flew at the speed
of light, (and they can travel at 50% faster than the speed of light), it will
only have taken the crew just 8,000 seconds, or about 12 minutes to cover the
269km to get to the Fylde Coast; which
is just as well as it costs some £22,000 per hour to fly these planes. Everything
about the planes cost a lot of money – they each cost £100m. That’s a lot of anyone’s
money.
Likewise, Kings College Hospital NHS
FT is expected to record an in-year deficit of between £180m and £191m this year.
It is the biggest overspend in NHS history. For several years, the Trust has
found it impossible to balance the books and in 2017 the Trust was placed in ’financial
special measures’. There are many reasons as to why the Trust is struggling.
Many of these will be familiar to readers of this blog; increasing demand for
services; workforce shortages and recruitment difficulties (leading to high agency
costs); poor operational performance; and an inability to meet savings targets.
That said, like the purchase of a F 35 fighter, this deficit is a lot of anyone’s
money.
However, in that peculiar way I
have of thinking, it occurred to me that there were many more similarities than
just loads of money between the two! Both the RAF and Kings College have an
international reputation in their relative fields. Delivering on these reputations
is increasingly complex and costly. For example, the RAF had to spend nearly
£500m getting RAF Marham ready for the new F 35 fighters. The first stage of a new Critical Care Unit at
Kings cost £100m. The training to become a fighter pilot or a doctor are similar,
although the rate of pay differs immensely as both pilots and doctors progress
through their careers. In the case of pilots, it’s said the relatively low pay
is responsible for the move of many pilots from the RAF into the commercial
sector, where they can be paid considerably more money.
A huge range of skills and
knowledge is required in both services to effectively deliver high quality
services. Superb teamwork is essential at every level of operation, along with approaches
to effective communication that transcend hierarchies and allow for challenge where
necessary. Both the RAF and the NHS rely on a huge range of integrated so
called ‘back room’ services, often not seen by the public, but critical in
enabling ‘front line’ staff to effectively deliver to meet the needs demanded
of them. The F 35 fighter is a great example of how both services are embracing
new technology to improve operational efficiency and reach.
I think it’s also interesting
that the NHS could learn so much from the RAF in terms of really getting to grips
with putting prevention (think health education/promotion) at the forefront of
what they do. I guess it comes from the well-earned
experience and knowledge that, should
they be called upon to do the business, they can deliver, and deliver to the
highest possible standard. Above all, I thought how similar it was, that many
of us don’t really think about either the NHS or the RAF until we perhaps need their
services. It’s a fact that each of these services costs a lot of anyone’s money,
but I for one am glad that we have them both, and it’s something I thought
about yesterday as I sat undisturbed on my mindfulness bench.
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