In April 2019, Kettering General Hospital (KGH) commenced on an ambitious journey to be the most digital hospital in England by July 2023. One component of this journey is the aim to decommission all on-site data centres, and move to the cloud, particularly in the light of our forthcoming rebuild as part of the HIP2 programme in the next 3–5 years. Achieving this move is a multi-year project, so putting steps in place to achieve this now is critical.
As we begin to formulate the cloud-first policy/strategy for KGH, I wanted to see what others in the NHS were doing…
TL;DR: Using the Thinking Environment in 1–2–1s. Spending more time in ICS-land.
[week ending 09/04/2021]
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? I joined the newly established Elective Care Board which is a cross-system group which is coordinating the elective reset across Northants.
I also joined a system group looking at the new NHS England planning guidance and our response to it.
What would you have liked to do more of? We had some excellent journey mapping work done in relation to complex discharges. The output is really rich, and I’ve not really had the chance to get…
I’ve done this for a few years now. At the end of 2020, I set out some personal goals for 2021. It’s now time to review progress at Q1.
TL;DR: Reasonable start to the year, but don’t ask about my weight.
>> Read 50 books. On target, 16 books read so far. This year I also added some sub-targets
- Read three Victorian classics. On target — read a Hardy in Jan.
- Read three books to educate myself more about race. On target — read White Fragility in Feb.
- Finish the long-neglected Biography of Ceasar — no progress.
>> Summarise 100%…
TL;DR: Group Digital Strategy is Go — Now the delivery! The importance of feedback.
[week ending 02/04/2021]
Early publish this week due to the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Happy Easter!
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? This week we finished off the shortlisting interviews for the NGH Digital Director post.
I joined another meeting of a few good souls seeking to establish a Midlands Digital Health Skills Development Network. This is really taking shape now and Mike and I will seek to do some of the launch stuff with Midlands colleagues in the next few weeks. …
TL;DR: Group Digital Strategy approved at NGH Board. Showcasing li’l ‘ol Kettering in a Making Data Count Workshop. Meeting Matthew Gould.
[week ending 26/03/2021]
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? A few of us met Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX this week. He joined with Sonia Patel, the NHSX CIO. We pulled out the big guns and had Simon, our Group CEO, The Trusts’ Chair and Alice the NED who chairs the Group Digital Hospital Committee. We talked about what we’d done so far as a hospital group, particuarly highlighting the value the KGH board put on…
Having just reviewed a number of applications for a senior position, I was astonished at the poor quality of a good number of them. On the one hand, it makes my life easy to reject your application at the shortlisting phase, but I don’t want it to be easy. I could be missing out on a brilliant hire. Your job is to make the life of the shortlisters hard and make it difficult for us to discard your application. So I’m writing these tips to benefit us both.
NB: This advice is related to Digital roles, but I’m pretty sure…
TL;DR: First time speaking at Rewired. Another turn of the wheel for the NGH EPR Business Case
[week ending 19/03/2021]
Took a couple of days off at the end of the week, so short and sharp this week.
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? A couple of the shortlisted candidates for the NGH Hospital CEO job ahead of inteviews.
I also talked to Ali from the CCG about digital’s role in Transformation as we move towards a fully-fledged ICS.
What do you wish you could have changed? The NGH Business Case had to be pulled from the…
TL;DR: An amazing Love Digital week at KGH. Indiana Jones and the Business Case of Doom.
[week ending 12/03/2021]
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? I joined a meeting of Midlands CIOs to talk about ICS developments and digital. Not quite sure on the timing of the final output, but it has been interesting to see the different importance of digital in different governance stuctures. …
TL;DR: Hating on the Informatics word. Group Digital Strategy cleared the first hurdle.
[week ending 05/03/2021]
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? I talked to a few more candidates for the Digital Director posts, fitting it in around other things during the week.
I had a catch up with Sonia Patel from NHSX about the cloud work we’re doing and also a wider conversation about professionalism of the CIO, which seems to be gathering some momentum.
I joined a few folks from the Midlands to discuss setting up a Informatics Skills Development Network. I really don’t like…
TL;DR: First steps towards becoming a Certified Healthcare CIO. Group Digital Strategy at the foothills of the approval process.
[week ending 26/02/2021]
Who did you talk to outside of your organisation? Talked to a few people who were interested in applying for the Digital Director posts. Quite a wide variety of experience and backgrounds, which is really exciting. We’re really hoping that candidates from unrepresented groups feel able to apply — hence the offer to have the conversation. Tips for anyone seeking to apply for a senior job — having this pre-application chat will feel scary, but it is vital…
Andy Callow
Husband. Dad to 3 smashing lads. Cub Leader. MAMIL. Group CDIO for Northampton and Kettering Hospitals. Ex NHS Digital. Views own. Always learning.
