The other day my youngest son, Joe, sent me a text: ‘Gardeners World episode 24. One of your kindred spirits’. – it was an intriguing text. Now I have not watched this programme for many a year. I consider myself a fairly good gardener. But ask me the name of a plant and there is only a 50% chance I will get the right name. I’m of an age where I can’t be bothered with those apps that enable you to identify plants. Life is too short. I’m more interested in the design and production of a garden. And goodness I have almost lost count of the number of gardens I have designed, enjoyed and then left to others to enjoy. I think in the past I found the Gardeners World presenters rather patronising, so stopped watching.
This was a great heads up from my
son. The ‘kindred spirit’ was a young man called Arthur. His tiny London garden
was all grown in pots and containers. All his pots were metal, no plastic
allowed. It was fabulous, and he was also a chicken lover. He couldn’t keep hens
in his garden, so used his Gran’s garden to do so. However, he brought them one
at a time to his garden to let them eat the weeds between the paving stones and
the undesirable insects. He might have been a younger me.
And then there was another Joe.
Sweet Pea Joe. He grew thousands of sweet peas each year. He said he didn’t
love them, but he certainly liked them. His enthusiasm was infectious and his calmness
reassuring. There were a couple of other gardeners on the programme who were
equally passionate about their gardens or what they were growing. In a week
that felt more turbulent than normal, it was a brief oasis of calm and I loved
the fact that there were folk like these still out there. I might even start
watching the programme again.
Someone else I’m glad is still
out there is Chris Hopson. He’s the CEO of NHS Providers. NHS Providers is a
membership organisation for a good proportion of NHS services including acute hospitals,
mental health and community services and ambulance services. Like the gardeners
mentioned above, NHS Providers are passionate about finding new ways to help organisations
deliver high-quality patient-focused care. They are an important voice in challenging
and helping to shape policy. Their team is very effective in communicating and
commenting on healthcare issues. Their commentary on the management of the pandemic
has been simply outstandingly brilliant. Regular readers of this blog will perhaps
recall my despair at what I thought were the trivial questions posed by journalists
at each of the Covid-19 daily briefings. Last week’s Downing Street briefing was
no exception!
So, I was really pleased last
week, to be able to attend the virtual Chairs and CEO’s meeting at which Chris
provided an armour-piercing analysis of the current state of affairs and what
the future might hold for the NHS. The meeting was under Chatham House rules and
so it would be inappropriate for me to attribute any of the discussions to particular
individuals. That said, Dido made an appearance to talk about Test and Trace. Although
she was as passionate as the gardeners Arthur and Joe about what she was trying
to achieve, the task is a clearly a very difficult one. I was left thinking
that getting an effective Test and Trace system in place before Winter will be
a real challenge.
Indeed, listening to Chris Hopson’s
presentation it was clear that the next 6 months are going to be a challenge for
all those working in health and social care. Many staff are exhausted. A lot
has been asked of all those working in health and social care services, and
they have delivered. However, if we are to restore services, more will be asked
of these same colleagues. The ask will be even more difficult as as we move
into Winter, a time that is traditionally challenging for the NHS with high
demands on healthcare services. And that’s before we factor in a second Covid-19
spike, Brexit, the impact of the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review, and
the possible publication of a new NHS Bill.
Increasingly, looking after our
staff is a critical issue. There is a need to think differently about
recruitment and retention approaches, with flexibility being a default position.
We should be doing more to ‘grow our own’ future workforce. Finding new ways to
help individuals stay resilient, motivated and healthy will be crucial if we
are to avoid a depleted and depressed work force. Likewise, the place-based
(and to a lesser extent, system-based) leadership seen through the pandemic will
need to continue as these challenges mount up. Over the past 6 months, a stable
financial underpinning of NHS services helped this leadership empowerment, but
it is unlikely such stability will be sustained.
It’s perhaps interesting to note
that it was providers not commissioners that led the way with so many innovations
and new ways of working through the disruption of Covid-19. That work continues
as services are slowly being restored. One of the ‘take home’ messages for me
from the NHS Providers meeting was that more of us should be shouting out that
the NHS glass is two-thirds full and not, as it is sometimes portrayed in the
media, as being a glass that’s two-thirds empty.
As I write this, I am reminded of
our new garden. Something J and I put a great deal of work into these past 18
months. We wanted to create our own little oasis of colour, shape, smell and
sound. I think we have done well in the time available and we have spent many an
hour out there enjoying the fruits of our labour. Then, earlier in the year, in
just a few hours we had a storm where the winds were so fierce much of the garden
was wrecked. Over the past few months, it has slowly recovered, and although
there is a Winter to still get through, I feel sure that the NHS, like our
garden, will also recover and be even better than it was before the pandemic.
*apologies to Benjamin Disraeli
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