Making our own sunshine: energising our decision making

Last week’s dawn to dusk sunshine was a real tonic. Although there were some meetings along the way, I was able to spend a great deal of time outside. For me there is nothing I like better than simply being able to wear shorts and t-shirt all day long. Thank goodness for only head and shoulder views on Teams and Zoom! That said, I found the sunshine energising and so there were also plenty of sunshine-filled walks each day.

I was also intrigued to read the story of Leighton Buzzard train station’s recent innovation. Gaining funding from the Department of Transport and in collaboration with Bedfordshire Council and the innovative walkway developer Pavegen, the station has installed kinetic floor tiles which can turn footsteps into electricity. It’s a small scale project at present, and although a little expensive, it’s a brilliant idea. Anywhere there is high footfall - hospitals, universities, airports (well maybe not airports just now) the potential to generate energy through people walking sounds simply brilliant.

Here follows a small digression. It has always amused me that Leighton Buzzard has long been associated with the Rothschild family. This fabulously wealthy banking family (during the 19th century, the Rothschilds amassed the biggest private fortune in the world), owned much land around Leighton Buzzard and Anthony de Rothschild lived at Ascott House (now owned by the National Trust). It is also the place where the ‘Great Train Robbery’ of 1963 occurred. The robbers got away with £2.6 million (which today would be worth £46.3 million!).   

Anyway, I was getting a little carried away there. Back to my storyline. Walking is just one of the ways in which people can feel mentally and physically energised. Running, cycling, swimming and so on, are equally good at getting people to become more active. Have a look here at the evidence as to what taking regular exercise can do in terms of preventing illness and enhancing your mental health and wellbeing. If you want to have a bit of fun as you become more active, why not join the #NHS1000miles community. Every Sunday, at around 19.30, people from all over the UK share on Twitter the number of miles they have walked, cycled, or run with pictures from the week. It’s not competitive, but it is very motivating. This year I have walked 740 miles and I still have today’s miles to add.

Last week I was reminded about the Greater Manchester Moving initiative. Started in 2017, this aimed to get 75% of the local population more active by 2025. The pandemic caused a pause in some of the group activities. Currently there is a ‘refresh’ taking place to ensure that the initiative reflects the changed post-pandemic world, particularly the need to reduce inequalities across our communities. 

I make no excuse for once more including this link to the #ActiveSoles story, which for me captures beautifully how the little things can become the big things, the important things, things that can inspire individuals and whole communities too. For most of the time I only wear clogs. When I’m walking, I wear walking shoes (similar to trainers). Collectively Rachel Allen, Hayley Lever and Andy Burnham led the way in making trainers acceptable footwear for formal meetings across the Greater Manchester Health and Care Partnership – but only if you used them!

I was reminded of the GM Moving initiative through attending a half-day workshop which explored how the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Service (ICS) was being developed. The workshop was facilitated through Teams, so I was pleased to be able to sit there in my shirt and jacket, whilst wearing my shorts. I wondered how many folk at the workshop were similarly attired, and how many were still wearing their trainers.

The workshop was one of four that all stakeholders from across the health and care sector were invited to attend. There were 51 people at my workshop. The aims of the workshop were to try and achieve a consensus over a number of principles as to how the ICS would operate in the future. As you can imagine, translating the rhetoric of collaborations, partnership, shared decision-making and so on into a new and workable reality was never going to be easy. One of the fundamental issues for any ICS is how to manage the relinquishing of control as an independent organisation. All NHS Foundation Trusts had gained considerable autonomy over their own destinies. Indeed, I would argue that the prevailing NHS culture of competition has meant that many organisations have become self-contained entities, with many Acute Trusts still having a ‘care and cure’ approach to health care service provision. 

This is not sustainable. It’s not desirable. More has to be invested in preventing illness, both physical and mental. To do this, health and care organisations are going to have to give some things up. Within an ICS, individual NHS Trusts will need to decide what it is that only they can do, what they need to do with others, and what is best done by other people. That is a hard ask. Giving something up for the greater good requires great trust and enormous amounts of integrity.

However, if I can again digress slightly, I want to demonstrate it’s not impossible. Way back in 1959, an engineer at the car manufacturer Volvo, Nils Bohlin, invented the three-point seat belt. Prior to this time, seat belts consisted of a strap across the waist, which in a crash often did more harm than good. Volvo could have kept the patent and made lots of money as consequence. Every car today is fitted with the same three-point seat belt. Volvo made the patent available to every car manufacturer for free. Since 1959, the seat belt has saved many millions of lives worldwide. Has Volvo suffered as a consequence of that decision? Absolutely not!

So, as we walk towards a brave new world, an integrated health and care world that recognises the importance of place to people, let’s use our energy to find new ways of working together for the greater good of our communities. Like the sunshine, that would be a real tonic to aid our decision-making.

 

Ps – I love mushrooms, but there literally was no room to include mushrooms in this blog. But please note, recent studies have shown that eating just one mushroom a day can reduce your risk of cancer by 45%, prostate and breast cancers in particular.