NO MORE BLOG POSTINGS

There is now an exciting new IHM website in place and therefore no longer a need for this blog.

All future information about the Regional Management Networks nearest to you can be obtained by visiting http://www.ihm.org.uk/

Alternatively, you can write to Sarah Farage, IHM Business Manager on s.farage@ihm.org.uk for more information about a network coming to your area.

Thank you to you all for the 2100 plus page hits that we have had in the last 12 months and I wish you good luck with your future networking.

Józefa Fawcett
Management Network Co-ordinator
j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

BRAND NEW IHM IMAGE AND WEBSITE

Take a look at our brand new IHM website and rediscover the benefits of being a member of a Professional Healthcare Management Institute.

Click here to go straight to website.

SOUTH CENTRAL MANAGEMENT NETWORK DATES

On behalf of the South Central Management Network, I have pleasure in inviting you to the next ‘season’ of Management Network meetings. Many of you have expressed an interest in leadership and the Leadership Qualities Framework in particular. So the topic this time is “Leadership – The Leadership Qualities Framework and its impact on you”.

The first meeting is next Tuesday, 19 June in Berkshire, and dates for other locations follow after that (with a gap over the main holiday period in the second half of July and in August):

Berkshire – Tuesday 19th June (location: Seminar Room 1, St Mark’s Hospital, St Mark’s Road, Maidenhead. Directions available from http://www.berkshireeast-pct.nhs.uk/contact.asp?fldID=250&fldSubAreaNum=0). The facilitator is Rachel Whale (email: rachel.whale@vanillafreelance.co.uk )

Hampshire – Tuesday 26th June (location: Room 1, The Education Centre, The Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester. You are welcome to use the multi-story car park there, but charges now apply. Directions available from http://www.wehct.nhs.uk/directions/). The facilitator is Rachel Whale (email: rachel.whale@vanillafreelance.co.uk )

Oxfordshire – Tuesday 17th July (location: Conference Room B, Jubilee House, Oxford Business Park South: this building is new Oxfordshire PCT HQ. Directions available from http://www.oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk/about-us/documents/OPCTJubileeHouseMap-May07.pdf ). The facilitator is John Hunt (email john.hunt@southcentral.nhs.uk ).

Buckinghamshire – Thursday 6th September (location: a venue in Milton Keynes – details to be confirmed). The facilitator is Paul Armer (email paularmer@btinternet.com).

These meetings will all be at the usual time of 5.00 pm for tea/coffee & biscuits and networking, with the main session starting promptly at 5.30 pm. As before, we would aim to finish by 7.00 pm.

We very much hope that you will be able to come along to one of these meetings in whichever location is most convenient to you – and you would be very welcome to bring any other managers from your organisation who may be interested. To help us with the venue and catering arrangements, could you please e-mail the facilitator for your chosen location as much in advance of the meeting as possible.

SOUTH EAST COAST MANAGEMENT NETWORK

URGENT INFORMATION....URGENT INFORMATION...URGENT INFORMATION...URGENT INFORMATION

Due to unforseen circumstances it has been necessary to postpone the schedule launch of the South East Coast Management Network which was due on 11th, 12th and 18th June in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. New launch dates for the autumn will be secured shortly.

Many apologies for the short notice and any inconvenience caused.

URGENT INFORMATION....URGENT INFORMATION...URGENT INFORMATION...URGENT INFORMATION

SPRING IS DEFINITELY HERE!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Holiday break!

For those of you who took time off work, you are probably coming back this week expecting to face a mountain of e-mails and new demands.

In the wake of all of this new activity remember to take some time out for you. During April and May we have a range of Management Network events taking place, so why not book out some reflection time from 17.00hrs - 19.00hrs and network with others in your geographical area who are also addressing the challenges of managing in healthcare.

West Midlands Management Network (WMNM)
Wednesday 18th April 07
"Clinical Governance and Public Health"
Location: University of Warwick, Coventy

To reserve a place contact Harjinder.Taggar@walsall.nhs.uk

------------------------------------------

South Central Management Network (SCMN)
Season 2 (Apr/May 07)
"Change: Where are YOU in change? - Taking control to manage change effectively"

*REMEMBER THIS IS ‘BRING-A-BUDDY’ SEASON IN SOUTH CENTRAL SO PLEASE TRY TO FIND A COLLEAGUE WHO IS INTERESTED IN MEETING OTHER MANAGERS AND BRING THEM ALONG

Berkshire
Tuesday 17th April PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS BEEN POSTPONED (FOR PERSONAL REASONS) WE ARE AIMING TO RESCHEDULE TO 17th MAY (tbc) - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED
Location: Berkshire West PCT, Learning Zone, 57-59 Bath Road, Reading

Hampshire
Tuesday 24th April
Location: Room 1, The Education Centre, The Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester. You are welcome to use Level 2 of the car park, but charges now apply

Oxfordshire
Tuesday 15th May (to also include a session on Work-Life Balance)
Location: Conference Room B, Jubilee House, Oxford Business Park South: this building is the former SHA HQ and is now Oxfordshire PCT HQ

Buckinghamshire
Tuesday 22nd May
Location: currently being organised but probably Milton Keynes or Wendover

To reserve a place on any of the SCMN events, contact j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

------------------------------------------

South East Coast Management Network (SECMN)
19th April 07
"Launch event and prioritisation of key themes"

Location: Pfizer Ltd, Walton Oaks, Dorking Road, Walton-on-the-Hill, Tadworth, Surrey) PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS BEEN POSTPONED (FOR PERSONAL REASONS) WE ARE AIMING TO RESCHEDULE ASAP - APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED

To reserve a place contact j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

------------------------------------------

London Management Network (LMN)
Thursday 26th April 07
"Special Launch event at the Ministry of Defence"
Location: MOD, Whitehall

Closed entry to MOD healthcare personnel only

Thursday 16th May 07
"Speed mentoring"
Location: Dept. of Health, New Kings Beam House, London - TBC

To reserve a place contact j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

------------------------------------------

REMEMBER DURING APRIL AND MAY ALL NETWORKING EVENTS ARE ENCOURAGING YOU TO ‘BRING-A-BUDDY’ SO PLEASE TRY TO FIND A COLLEAGUE WHO IS INTERESTED IN MEETING OTHER MANAGERS AND BRING THEM ALONG

WE ALL NEED SUPPORT AT SOME TIME

When it comes to our personal development there is much we can learn from nature as well as from each other.

One of the most valuable aspects of participating in the Management Network meetings, is the opportunity to share stories with those working in similar roles that you wouldn't normally get a chance to meet so as to learn different approaches to familiar problems.

Talking about stories, here is one of my favourites. It is taken from a wonderful little book titled 'Tales for Trainers' by Margaret Parkin (Kogan Page, 2002)

I hope you enjoy it and can identify with the moral of the story and consider its relevance to healthcare management and change.

LESSONS FROM THE GEESE

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird flying behind. Flying in a 'V' formation adds around 70% greater flying range than if a bird was flying alone. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. When the leed goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose takes the leed. The geese at the back of the 'V' honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If a goose gets shot down or becomes sick, two others drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is either able to fly again or it dies.

New Regional Management Networks are launching over the next few months. Keep in touch with what's going on by regularly visiting this blog and sharing the information with your colleagues.

See you soon.

Józefa

SPEED MENTORING - NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!

Our second round of events in South Central area have been focusing on 'Speed Mentoring' with Ali Jennings, Development Manager from SC SHA. You can contact her for more information on alison.jennings@southcentral.nhs.uk

Participants in Berkshire and Hampshire (so far) have really enjoyed this event with comments like:

"I will now be able to take the knowledge gained back to my work life and personal issues."

"I will be able to think more broadly about career
options"



Take a look at the film above for a taster of what is in store if you attend one of the management network events.

If you are unable to see this then you may need to install macromedia Flash plugin, this is free and only takes 90 seconds to install by clicking here

Please note that some healthcare organisations have firewalls that prevent the downloading of Flash which means you won't be able to view this film - check with your IT department for more details and/or try at home.

LONDON MANAGEMENT NETWORK LAUNCH

We are launching the London Management Network at the University of East London, Docklands campus on Wednesday 28th February.

This first event will focus on identifying the needs of the new London managment network and prioritisation of key topics.

To look around this fantastic new UeL campus and listen to the running commentary, click on the grey triangle below to view a film made by one its current IT students from China.



If you would like to attend this first event then send an e-mail to j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

FUTURE REGIONAL MANAGEMENT NETWORK MEETINGS

As we are now well into 2007 and January is nearly at an end, most of us will have long since caught up with the pre-Christmas backlog, settled into the final quarter of the financial year and be planning future workloads and projects. With this in mind, the National Management Network is resuming its f-2-f meetings in a growing number of regional areas. See below planned activity and amended dates - good idea is to pop these into your diary TODAY!

WEST MIDLANDS (WMidsMN)
Their last event on 11th January was about service improvement using LEAN design, the next one will be an IHM AGM and a session "How to use the Clinical Governance Structure to reduce Hospital Mortality" and will be held in Dudley on Thursday 22nd February - for more information and to attend please contact harjinder.taggar@walsall.nhs.uk

SOUTH CENTRAL (SCMN)
Following on from its very successful launch before Christmas across FOUR different venues, SC is again running a second round of meetings this time on "Speed Mentoring" with Alison Jennings who was involved in setting up the highly successful mentoring scheme in the North West. All meetings will start at 5.00 with tea/coffee and biscuits, 5.30-6.30 with Alison and from 6.30 an 'Open Space' experience, dates as follows:
Berkshire (Tues 13 Feb) - Berkshire West PCT, Learning Zone, 57-59 Bath Road, Reading
Hampshire (Tues 27th Feb) - Education Centre, Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester
Oxfordshire (Thurs 8th Mar) - SHA's Oxford base at Jubilee House, Oxford Business Park South
Buckinghamshire (Tues 20th Mar tbc) - possibly Wycombe General Hospital - venue to be confirmed shortly
For more information and to reserve your place please contact j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk
PLEASE DO MAKE CONTACT SO WE KNOW THAT YOU ARE ATTENDING!

LONDON (LONMN)
We are planning the launch of a London Management Network on Wed 28th February at the University of East London's exciting new campus in Docklands. This first meeting will "Establish the Network and identify the priorities for future meetings" - register interest and your thoughts about how this network should be used to meet your needs direct to j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

SOUTH-EAST COAST (SECMN)
We are just at the early stages of planning a SEC Managment Network with a first tentative date of Tues 27th March. The proposed venue will likely be in Surrey to start us off and participants should register their interest to help us gauge numbers for refreshment etc.. This first meeting will "Establish the Network and identify the priorities for future meetings" - register interest and your thoughts about how this network should be used to meet your needs direct to j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

SCOTLAND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (SCOTMDN) Following the successful launch of the Ayrshire and Arran Management Development Network last June the first event of a series of 3 in Ayr will take place on Thursday 15th March focusing on Coaching Skills time: 12.00pm – 2.00pm at Ayr Racecourse - for more information and to attend please contact hilary.iannotti@btopenworld.com

In addition to this there is also another network meeting in the Dumfries & Galloway area with the key speaker John Burns, CEO, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, on Thursday 22nd March in Dumfries, time: 12.00pm – 2.00pm - for more information and to attend please contact iain.boddy@nhs.net

Hope you can join us at one of our management networking events and look out for one coming soon to your area.

HOW WELL DOES MANAGEMENT LISTEN?

Communication, as ever, plays a vital role in healthcare management today. One example of its importance was aired on the BBC recently (8-10 Jan). They featured a series of programmes charting the progress (?) of a certain business guru, Sir Gerry Robinson, who believed that any organisation can be made to run well, including the NHS. This was somewhat reminiscent, for those of us old enough to remember, of a certain Sir John Harvey-Jones saying similar things back in the early 90's.

The programmes captured Gerry's visits to Rotherham General Hospital, the purpose of which was to find ways to reduce waiting times over a six month period. Each of these programmes seemed to enforce the same underlying message – a distinct lack of communication (and subsequent action) between management and staff within the hospital. Many of the scenes showed him getting people together and talking to each other about the problems and how they wanted to see them resolved.

What struck me what not only the simplicity of what he was trying to do, but the fact that getting people to talk to each other is only part of the solution. What was also clearly needed was some way to help those talking to each other to really listen as well as hear what was being said.

All of this is great of course if you can hear, but what about those who can’t? What is illuminating is that it is often the case that people who are deaf or hard of hearing, listen better than those of us who have so-called 'good' hearing.

So perhaps some refections?

• If you don't want to know the answer, then don't ask the question
• If you ask the question, then have the good grace to really 'listen' to the answer
• Once you have listened - TAKE ACTION AND CHANGE SOMETHING!

The programme, produced with the OU raised a lot of other key managerial issues affecting healthcare managers today - why not read about others' views on the programme and maybe even have your say and post a comment on the OU discussion forum

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Looking forward to meeting many more healthcare managers during 2007 - enjoy your festivities.

Józefa (on behalf of the National Management Network and everyone at the Institute of Healthcare Management)

THE LAUNCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL

The launch of the South Central Management Network took place on 22nd November at the SHA offices in Oxford and over the last three weeks we have launched South Central in FOUR different locations, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire.

Pictures from all four events are currently being uploaded into our online picture storage system (link coming soon..)

We also made a short film highlighting the views from Emma and Gill (at Oxford launch). To view it click on the grey triangle in YouTube below.



If you are unable to see this then you may need to install macromedia Flash plugin, this is free and only takes 90 seconds to install by clicking here


FORTHCOMING SOUTH CENTRAL EVENTS FOR 2007:

OXFORDSHIRE: 23 Jan 2007 - SHA offices, Oxford
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: 11 Jan 2007 - Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury
BERKSHIRE: 8 Feb 2007 - West Berkshire Primary Care Trust, Reading
HAMPSHIRE: 20 Feb 2007 - Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester

To reserve a place at any of the meetings please send an e-mail to simon.cresswell@southcentral.nhs.uk

At each of the events we highlighted opportunities to access Management Learning options that are being sponsored by John Hunt, SHA, for more information click on the links below:

FREE eLearning material

Managing Health & Social Care Programme - Certificate and Diploma

Milestones short bite-size pieces of learning (6 weeks)

To take advantage of the financial support offered contact John direct on john.hunt@southcentral.nhs.uk

Mik Horswell, Chair IHM South Central, spoke about the work of the IHM, if you are interested in joining the newly formed Regional Council then contact Mik direct on mikh@micklefield.demon.co.uk

A RESOUNDING SUCCESS!

Well we are back from conference, having made some fantastic new contacts and talked, talked and talked!

Some great pictures are available on our special flickr site showing the 'behind the scenes' story from the set up right through to the closing hours.

In addition to the pictures, a film of the conference was made by NICE TV and this will be ready to view very soon on the IHM website (with a link from here).

Finally, a date for your diary 9th & 10th May 2007, our first joint MHSC and IHM conference in Harrogate - one not to be missed!

Józefa

Lots of other pictures of Management Network activity can be viewed from here

IHM ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN CARDIFF

We are all off to Cardiff for the IHM Annual Conference & Exhibition running from 14th - 15th November 2006

"Expanding Boundaries, Finite Resources"

This year we at the National Management Network are running a workshop entitled:

"It is high time we asked ourselves fresh questions about how managers manage"

The conference will be chaired by Martyn Lewis, ex-BBC and ITN Broadcaster and with a superb Awards ceremony and wonderful location and hospitality from NHS Wales, participants are in for a fantastic learning and networking event.

Haven't booked yet, don't worry there is still time to do so, just click here to register your place!

The pictures will be posted here on the blog straight after the event so come back again to see these and 'listen' to an interview or two.

SPREADING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL

I am writing to register my interest in the South Central Management Network, and look forward to receiving more information. I have responsibility for a number of community provider services, including district nursing, health visiting, podiatry, wheelchair, continence, Day Services, Tissue Viability, SALT, psychology - with a strong focus on long term conditions and developing services to deliver care 'closer-to-home' and to reduce admissions to the acute sector.

I am looking for a network of peers, as this can be a rather lonely outpost at times; for others' ideas, innovations, creativity etc..; for new 'evidence based' ways of delivering services within budget and how to ensure that implementation of policy on the ground is embedded and sustainable.

These are just a few initial thoughts and I look forward to being part of this new network.

Sally Miller
Head of Managed Care - Northern Cluster, Hampshire PCT
Email: sally.miller@nhpct.nhs.uk

NEW POSTING FROM DEREK MCAULEY

The NHS Confederation has highlighted governance and leadership as key priorities for NHS organisations in addressing the major challenges they face "Meeting the Challenge" (2006).

How do we make sure that the boards of Foundation Trusts, NHS trusts, SHAs and PCTs are not mere ceremony but add value?

These issues are high on the agenda and managers need to keep up-to-date with current and evolving practice in the statutory but also the private and voluntary sectors. These issues are explored in the web blog

Healthcare Governance
http://healthcaregovernanceuk.blogspot.com/

Derek is an IHM member and is keen for comment/response to any of the issues raised. Visit his blog and post your comments there too.

WEST MIDS HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE NETWORK - 2ND EVENT

Slightly bleary-eyed entry after a long but hugely successful night in Coventry, at the second West Midlands Management Network event held at the offices of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Warwick University.

Click here to view the pictures from the evening.

You can also play the audio post below and listen to Tarsem Singh Sidu, of the Regional WM Ambulance Service talking to me as we relax for a few minutes at the end of the event.

(if no sound card, then transcript will appear here shortly)

(My apologies to Salu and Rachel, our recorded interview didn't post, not sure why however if you are willing we can try again next time and thank you)

Józefa

ANOTHER REGIONAL NETWORK THIS TIME FOR SOUTH CENTRAL!

Well we are expanding fast and are in the process of starting up another Regional Management Network, this time in the South Central region which extends from the Thames Valley (Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire) through to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Upon hearing that we were coming to her region, one interested participant wrote...

"I would like to register my interest in the new National Management Network. Locally this would be useful not only from the learning perspective but also in getting to know other managers in the larger organisations.

I have been involved in a learning set with managers across Thames Valley who have been on the same managerial level as myself and found this very useful and an excellent way of gathering new ideas and seeing things from alternative perspectives. It would also be useful for recognising gaps in our knowledge and furthering our position in the new organisations.

I have been in my job for 2 years and think it would be useful to gain an insight into other PCT areas and roles, as well as looking at the upcoming agenda and strategic direction of the organisations.

Practical advice on managing situations is also useful but working everyday you sometimes lose sight of where you are going."

Louise Smith
Dental Modernisation and Commissioning Manager
(Buckinghamshire PCTs)
louise.smith@voapct.nhs.uk
Aylesbury, Bucks.

TIME TO STOP AND REFLECT

Having chanced upon this reflective piece [author unknown], written just after 9/11, it seemed appropriate to post it on this blog today.

The Paradox of Life

Today the paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies thanever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.

You can choose whether to share this insight, or just hit delete. The reactions, as cited on the discussion forum where it was found were mixed with some stating that this is an “..example of overgeneralization leading to an unwarranted negative view on life.”

Make up your own mind!

FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH

For those without a sound card the interview transcript is offered below.

"When I trained as a Cognitive-Edge Practitioner with Dave Snowden and the crew at University of Greenwich in July 2005, little did I know that I would find an opportunity to use some of the narrative [story] telling techniques so close to home.

There is no doubt that the best information about 'the way things are' and 'how people feel' come straight from them, without facilitation or interpretation. The start of this was evident at the Regional Management Network (RMN) - West Midlands, as mentioned in a previous post. It was there that we fed back original ideas and views and asked participants to set out the agenda and priorities for the RMN over the coming months.

What makes interesting reading is how the technique(s) are being used to their fullest potential with patients of the Canadian healthcare system as explained by Dave himself.

We hope to include many more techniques throughout the Network as it progresses, so look out for more stories to appear online soon."

Have something you want posted? Then send me an e-mail to J.Fawcett@ihm.org.uk with what you want to say and I will post it for you.

BRAND NEW RMN SIX WEEKLY BULLETIN

Please click here to access the very first of a new six-weekly bulletin from the Regional Management Network (RMN) - West Midlands.

Work is now underway to develop a second RMN in London and after this a third. I wonder where the next one after London should be?

Józefa

WEST MIDLANDS REGIONAL MANAGMENT NETWORK (RMN) EVENT

Here is the new IHM CEO, Sue Hodgetts at the regional networking event in Birmingham on the night of 20th July 2006.

Click here to view picture show of whole event and get a real feel of the atmosphere from the evening.

Click on the audiopost below to hear a short interview with a couple of participants.

For those without a sound card the interview transcript is offered below.

[Sound of knowledge sharing at meeting]

[Józefa]
“OK I am just going to start interviewing some of the participants at the first Regional Management Network here in the West Midlands. I am here with Wendy would you tell me what you have thought about this evening?”

[Wendy]
“I really didn’t have any particular expectations so it’s always a pleasant surprise and I certainly would suggest other members of my team to have a valuable learning experience by attending”

[Józefa]
“OK Wendy thank you, I am sorry I can’t see your name badge ….ah Chris… where are you from Chris?”

[Chris]
“I am from the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust”

[Józefa]
“Is this your first networking event here with us?”

[Chris]
“I have been a long time supporter of the IHM I think it is important at a number of levels, for managers to keep themselves up to date, to be able to tap into the network and learn from each other and thirdly in terms of ensuring the skills of the workforce are equipped to meet the demands of the NHS that we find ourselves in today.”

[Józefa]
“Chris that’s fantastic will you come to another event, if we hold one say in about a couple of month’s time?”

[Chris]
“I might do”

[Laughter]

[Józefa]
“What will we need to do to make sure that yourself and perhaps others might come along with you next time?”

[Chris]
“I think specifically targeting certain areas and projects as you’ve done tonight and highlighting whether we can reach the management service improvements issues in patient care if you target that you’ll get a more specific audience coming along to hear about the issues”

[Józefa]
“Would you agree with that Wendy?”

[Wendy]
“Yes, very much so, I think if you focus on areas that will bring in a very specific audience with certain developmental needs and I think that making it more specific will consolidate some extra learning for a particular group of individuals”

[Józefa]
“Thank you both very much indeed”

-end of interview-

A PURE SELF INDULGENCE!

(no sound card? then just read the text below...)

"I hope you don't mind me including one purely personal yet very moving post about a friend of mine who is battling with breast cancer - her name is Anne-Marie Kesselman.

She uses a blog to reflect upon and share her experiences of being a cancer patient and how the healthcare system has supported her in her fight, which I am delighted to say she appears to be winning.

Why place a link to her blog here on a site that is dedicated to support those who manage in health and social care? Well, at times it can be easy to forget WHY changes in organisational systems and processes are being advocated especially if we are involved in and affected by these changes. Tapping into reflective thoughts from patients/users in such an insightful way whilst change is taking place serves as a useful reminder as to the reasons why many of us have chosen to work in or alongside those in the caring professions.

On the right hand side of the page you will find a link to Anne-Marie's blog (called My Friend - The Cancer Patient) and her musings on her illness, the support and care she has received from the NHS mingled with some family news and views. She has stated how therapeutic writing a blog has been for her state of mind and subsequent recovery, and it makes me wonder how beneficial this can also be for those who provide the services to patients just like her?

Thank you very much for allowing me to make such an important posting."

Have something you want posted? Then send me an e-mail to J.Fawcett@ihm.org.uk

NAME CHANGE

We are now called Apogee Reflections as this better represents the overall purpose of this blog and leaves the way for us to develop a discussion forum to run in parallel on the new IHM website later in the autumn.

For some of you this is a very new way to record personal reflections on learning, practice and growth, however in so doing you are sharing ideas with other Network Participants who might appreciate learning what the role of 'managing' within a health and/or social care setting is really like from others that do it.

I hope you enjoy reading and listening to the postings. To make a comment follow these simple instructions:

1. Click on comments at the end of the post you want to respond to and type what you want to say into the blank box.
2. In the identity area click on other
3. Type in your name
4. Complete the word verification by copying the letters that you see (this tells us you are a person and not a computer and prevents unsuitable spam from attaching itself to this site)
5. Confirm your posting by clicking on publish

All comments are moderated and will appear on the blog within 6 hours.

If you wish to provide a full reflective posting on any subject you like that is associated with leadership and management in health/social care, then please send copy to me at j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

NMN ON THE ROAD!

Taking the National Management Network out on the road and into regions across the UK.

(no sound card? then just read the text below...)

"Hi, this is Józefa on the road, I am on the M40 on my way to Walsall Teaching PCT to meet up with a fellow colleague, Harjinder (Regional Co-ordinator) with whom I am working to establish the very first Regional Management Network (RMN) in the West Midlands. This is very exciting for both of us and this is also my very first audiopost 'on the road', so I am not sure what the sound quality is like and hope that it is reasonably audible and though I am stationery whilst making this call I am still hands-free!

Well today we are going to put the final touches to the first regional 'gathering event' which will be hosted in Birmingham on 20th July [amended], hopefully we will have a good turn out from the 175 interested participants from the region and this number will grow after our first 'gathering'.

I think that is it for the moment and I should really get started again and concentrate on where I am going so as not to take a wrong turn. More news from NMN on the road very soon."

E-mail:

Józefa Fawcett j.fawcett@ihm.org.uk

Harjinder Taggar Harjinder.Taggar@walsall.nhs.uk

CAN'T HEAR THE AUDIOPOST?

Turn up your volume on your computer to hear this audio post.

(no sound card? then just read the text below...)

"Please don't think you are missing out if you cannot get the audiopost to work in your organisation, some have firewalls that prevent this from playing on your machine or you might not have a sound card or Windows media player. Even without this you can still read the same information in the transcript that is always offered below the audio post.

Thank you to those who have contacted me about this blog, for some people it is a new way of communicating and might take a little getting used to. We might try it for a few months until the 'official' discussion forum is up and running on the IHM website, and then decide if we want to keep it or not.

For now - join me in learning about the newest ways to communicate with lots of healthcare managers across the UK. "

E-mail: J.Fawcett@ihm.org.uk

WELCOME TO THE NATIONAL MANAGEMENT NETWORK

Turn up your volume on your computer to hear this post or read the text below.

"Hello and welcome to Apogee Reflections [renamed], a purpose built blog to support the National Management Network. If you have got this far then congratulations, you are in at the start of a really exciting initiative that is being funded by the Department of Health and is project managed by the Institute of Healthcare Management.

This weblog is being used as a temporary interim measure whilst the IHM updates its own website with a special area for all National Management Network participants. We may decide to keep this going once the new discussion forum is in place just as a dedicated space to 'reflect' upon management issues raised elsewhere. This is a test post so come back again very soon"

Click on the blue comments link below and a new pop up window will appear with all the comments that have been left.

E-mail: J.Fawcett@ihm.org.uk