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!