Sounding the Last Post for 2020: but saying a big HELLO to 2021, where there is much to look forward to!

My last blog of the year is often a strange one to write. In times past I’ve tended to look back at my year and reminisce about what I have done and my hopes for the year to come. In terms of those looking at my blog, it is the worse week of the year for me. The numbers of folk clicking on the link and reading my words dwindles to a few hundred. However, every year I am reminded of the question my father has often asked me about why I write my blog, who is it for, and what am I trying to achieve? Simply put, I write the blog primarily for me. I find I have things I want to say, thoughts that I feel just need to be put out there. Yes, I enjoy writing so my weekly blog post is not a chore, it’s a real pleasure. That other people choose to read it, and so many generously respond and comment is a huge bonus. All such responses are absolutely appreciated, and all are uplifting.

What now seems a long time ago (and it truly feels like a long time) many of us started the year with great expectations. I know I did. It was the year that J and I were to be married. We had planned what we thought was to be an unique event, capturing our love of music, freedom, living the ‘good life’ (aka BBC’s Tom and Barbara) and celebrating all that Mother Nature has to offer us all. But it wasn’t to be.

The wedding date came and went in Lockdown No 1. It took a while for us to get going again. And boy, did we feel guilty. There was the pair of us steeped in a fit of depression over our cancelled wedding while people were dying of Covid-19, and our professional colleagues were working flat out to care for all those who need their skill and help. The ‘happy clapping Thursdays’ didn’t change a thing. We both felt inadequate and anxious that we weren’t really doing enough.

As Lockdown 1 went on, we were lured into a false sense of unreality. The sunshine filled days, hugely compensated for the lack of contact with others. We welcomed Teams and Zoom, as a new and almost magical way of working. Eventually such virtual meetings lost their appeal and accentuated the impotence we felt at not being there, standing shoulder to shoulder with colleagues on the front line. I’m a nurse by professional background and watching and hearing the pain and trauma that other nurses were enduring left its mark.

Here in the North West, the pandemic never really went away. Yes, we had a few days, maybe even a week or two where nobody who was Covid positive was admitted into our wards, but it was a brief respite. During what should have been the recovery months of August – October, we were once more having to deal with increasing numbers of Covid infections and admissions. By the beginning of November, there was a second peak of infections and Lockdown No 2 was put in force. Unlike the first peak of infections, where many non-Covid services were greatly reduced or even stopped, this time around these services continued to be provided. The result was a health and care workforce that became increasingly exhausted, anxious and demotivated. The so called ‘nosocomial’ infection rates started to rise, and hospitals began to feel like unsafe places once more.

However, whilst the rate of infections remains high in many parts of the UK, they have started to plateau in most areas across the North West. So, whilst the pandemic hasn’t gone away there are some hopeful signs. There was much creativity shown during the early months of the pandemic. New and innovative ways of providing services and care were developed. Decision making at a local level became easier and certainly a great deal faster, and, of course, a viable vaccine has been developed.

At a personal level, J and I were able to get married towards the end of October. It wasn’t the wedding we had planned or imagined, but for us, it was a very special day. Thank you to all those who helped make it happen – you know who your are! And as 2020 draws to a close I believe there are also many good things to look forward to in the coming year. Yes we need to get the vaccination programme up and running effectively (no mean feat at all, just look at our world-beating test and trace system), but if we can protect the most vulnerable in our communities I predict the demand for Covid beds in hospitals will fall dramatically by February. Of course, we still need to get through January and that is likely to be tough for everyone.

Also, in the last few days of 2020, one of the things I will remember about the year is growing my network of colleagues and friends through the work of the Good Governance Institute. With great foresight, back in March they set up a regular virtual meeting place. NHS Non-Executive Directors (NED) could use this space to discuss ideas, fears and anxieties, challenge policy discussions and do so within the security of Chatham House Rules. Every Friday morning, I have been able to be part of this community and have extended my NED network to include many new folk from across England.

I had the privilege to lead on one of the meetings that looked at what good governance might look like in the emergent Integrated Care Systems (ICS). I remember suggesting the way forward might be creating a statutory collaborative body that mandated all organisations across the NHS family, Local Authorities and other stakeholder came together to work in a more integrated way. The alternative would be the creation of new NHS statutory standalone body, which to me felt like going backwards in time. So, I was pleased when NHS England published its Integrated Care Systems next steps guidance at the end of November, which also recommended an option similar to the one I had described. 

If the start of the year held great expectations for us, I think equally so, 2021 brings with it some wonderful opportunities to make a difference to the lives of so many of those who make up our communities. I have 4 ambitions for the new year: 1) I want to help improve the health and health outcomes for our communities; (2) I want to find ways to help reduce health inequalities; (3) enhance the productivity of our health and care organisations and (4) develop a stronger and more coherent partnership place-based approach to how care is delivered.

I’m sure you might have similar ambitions and hopes, but whatever yours might be, I wish you all a wonderful start to 2021 and a brilliant New Year.