Helen Buckingham
@buckinghamh
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Expert by experience on health & care systems. Chair @NVtweeting , Trustee @RoyalVolService . DipWSET. Also books, food, wine & other good things. She/her.
Joined September 2009
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Seeing much concern on my timeline about the NHS Bill going through Parliament now opening the door to 'privatisation' of the NHS. Some of it raised by people who should know better...
For the benefit of those who don't follow the ins and outs of this as closely as I do - a🧵
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Ok... deep breath... I fear I may regret this but if I don't make a public commitment it'll never happen. So... I have been meaning to do
#Couchto5k
for ages. But couldn't work out how to fit it in. Now I won't be commuting 4 hrs a day for a while I have no excuse. So tomorrow...
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"The toughest jobs in the NHS are in middle management. One of the most important jobs for the CEO is creating heroes of middle managers."
#HSJProviderSummit
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I am the only person in the whole country who hasn't been watching Happy Valley, aren't I?
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@trishgreenhalgh
You're unlikely to look back in years to come and say 'I wish I'd finished that zoom meeting...'
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This is another substantial - and much less well read - chapter in the story of NHS pressures. The lack of investment in good NHS community provision and the shocking reduction in District Nurse numbers matter as much as the lack of social care.
Community nurses play a crucial role helping older people to stay fit and well in their own homes - we should be investing more, locally, regionally and nationally, in this essential, often unsung workforce
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The long awaited 'Messenger review' into leadership in health and care has finally been published. A few thoughts to follow. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Although the report is short, it covers many important issues, and is worth reading in full. 🧵 1/n
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Tucked up in the summerhouse (
#duvetknowitschristmas
❤️), listening to the church bells ringing out & reading Jeanette Winterson. Happy Christmas one and all.
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This report is superb. Intellectually rigorous, emotionally intelligent. Required reading for every public body.
“Kindness is not sentimental, & nor does it result in sloppy behaviour. Kindness requires a real focus on relationships & that can be truly challenging & demanding.”
NEW REPORT!
#Kindness
, emotions and human relationships: The blind spot in public policy, written by Carnegie Fellow
@JuliaUnwin
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.
@alisonleary1
discussing the 'taskification' of work, and the expectation that staff will fill in the gaps. We are failing to value the emotional labour of care.
#NTsummit
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One door closes... and another opens. Au revoir - not adieu - to all my wonderful
@NuffieldTrust
colleagues. And I am looking forward to working with a wide range of other wonderful people as I pick up my new portfolio career - please do be in touch if you think I can help you!
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Personal news 📢
After 7 brilliant years it’s almost time for me to move on from
@NuffieldTrust
. It’s hard to leave such a great institution, but I’ll be with the Trust until the end of April, then will watch with pride as it continues to shine under
@Thea_Stein
's leadership.
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I hope,
@guardian
, having published a lengthy obituary of Peter Sutcliffe, you're going to follow it up with equally lengthy obituaries of the women whose lives he took.
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.
@Kevin_Fong
highlights that the rate of posttraumatic stress in NHS staff following the pandemic is comparable to that in the British military serving in Afghanistan. That has a cost.
#NTsummit
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Oh I do like to be beside the seaside... happy birthday me!
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Some personal news 👇
Feeling pretty chuffed myself! Very much looking forward to working with
@CharlotteAugst
to take
@NVTweeting
from strength to strength. Huge thanks as well to
@HNewiss
for everything she has achieved in the last 6 years - big shoes to fill.
The news is out! We have bagged the formidable
@buckinghamh
as our new
@NVTweeting
Chair. I am so so chuffed.
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I am SO fed up of seeing this line rolled out to excuse every workplace bully. "XXXXX makes no apologies for having high standards."
Lots of us have high standards and still manage to behave like human beings to other human beings.
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Day 2 of the
@NuffieldTrust
summit underway, with
@mancunianmedic
leading a powerful session on workforce burnout describing his personal experiences as a consultant at the height of the pandemic.
#NTsummit
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I have no children. My nieces and nephews live in different countries and anyway I'm not their job. Working with family carers is important, but so is having a system which doesn't rely on them.
@AWOCUK
After thanking families for stepping in to help get relatives home from hospital in place of full care plans, the Minister said "we need more of that"
It will overwhelmingly be women who are already heavily involved in care and support for elderly and unwell relatives
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As I prepare to move on from the
@NuffieldTrust
next week I've been thinking about some of the things I have found myself saying repeatedly over the last 7 years. A thread... (1/10)
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This is possibly one of the most British minutes ever - the setting, the one person standing, the ripple as everyone else follows, the slightly puzzled looking Duke of Kent, the embarrassed and smiling focus of attention- and really rather lovely.
Standing ovation at Wimbledon’s Centre Court for Dame Sarah Gilbert who designed the Oxford COVID vaccine.
Very moving.
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It's been a long day...
@BBCr4today
,
@BBCNews
,
@SkyNews
. But I'm acutely aware that talking about pressure across the NHS is nothing like as stressful as actually managing it. So thank you broadcasters for asking me to talk about them, & hats off to everyone doing the real work.
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This is important:
"If we introduce this next stage too early, the measures will not protect us at the time of greatest risk but could have a huge social impact. We need to time this properly, continue to do the right thing at the right time, so we get the maximum effect"
The government has announced it is moving into the delay phase of its coronavirus action plan
Read more about what this means: 🔽
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Sitting in the glamorous 'green room' ready to talk on
@BBCr4today
about the enormous challenge facing our whole emergency care system.
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These words were notably absent from earlier briefings: “The sense of constant demands from above, including from politicians, creates an institutional instinct... to look upwards to furnish the needs of the hierarchy rather than downwards to the needs of the service-user.” 11/n
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@CharlotteAugst
@RevRichardColes
@RevDavidColes
My father went in his coffin in his full fell-walking kit, complete with compass, ordnance survey maps and Kendal mintcake. It felt very classical.... (and right).
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I don't know if I've ever felt as outraged by an
@HSJnews
article. “A sole woman is unable to bring out the best outcomes for the child.” Really? Damn right rethink needed. There are tricky questions about commissioning IVF in austerity but sole v dual parenting isn't 1 of them.
CCGs which banned single women from IVF services pledge rethink
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Succinct and to the point.
In today's
@Telegraph
top
@ImperialNHS
surgeon Ara Darzi responds to their columnist Charles Moore and his views of NHS staff's handling of
#coronavirus
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Having spent yesterday celebrating women leaders in health & care in general, I just want to take a moment tonight to celebrate one woman in particular. Take a bow
@Saffron_Policy
, you are phenomenal.
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If someone is both desperate enough and courageous enough to get in a rubber dinghy to cross 22+ miles of open sea in search of a better life, then they probably have something about them which can make a difference in this country. They're not the wrong sort of refugee.
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Aambulances are full because EDs are full; EDs are full because hospitals are full; hospitals are full because services outside hospitals are full... & both patients and staff are suffering. Covid didn't help, but this is the result of a long term failure to invest.
.
@buckinghamh
explains how significant pressure across the wider health and social
#care
is having a knock-on impact on
#ambulance
handover delays.
Watch
@BBCHughPym
's piece on
@BBCNews
at Six from yesterday here 👇 (5m08s)
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We’ve been talking about integration for an awfully long time. Obviously if it was easy it would have been fixed by now. And if it wasn’t important we’d have stopped trying. Cue a
@NuffieldTrust
briefing on the latest policy intervention - integration at place level.
🧵👇
1/16
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I don't think I have ever read anything quite like this. Just read it.
❤️
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A momentous day today, publication of the DHSC White Paper, & my 1st Board meeting as Chair of
@NVTweeting
. However we organise the system wiring, the aim stays the same - to work with people and communities so they live healthier & happier lives. It's ALWAYS about the people.
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Barbara Castle knew this. That's why child benefit was explicitly paid to mothers.
Children are poor because women are poor.
That’s what new research by
@WomensBudgetGrp
, shared exclusively with Prospect, highlights.
@paperdispatch
reports.
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Oh this looks FUN!
Hillary Clinton (and me) on fun shoes and 'old lady trainers'. This is an out take from my discussion with H R Clinton on
#Insideculture
on Friday 1 Oct, BBC2 8.00pm, where we talk women, power, reading and writing.
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Oh his face at the end is priceless... go, women of a certain age.
The son is an experienced soccer player...
The mother is a distinguished physics teacher.
The son challenged the mother thinking she would not be able to put the ball in the other glass without touching the ball..
*But physics wins.. look what she did.*.😃
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I'm delighted too!!
We are delighted to announce
@buckinghamh
as the new National Voices Chair of Trustees - find out more about Helen in this Q&A:
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I'm sorry, a decent workforce plan for the NHS AND the social care system is a reasonable expectation not a birthday present. And dripping it out via press release is downright disrespectful. Let's just hope the content lives up to the hype.
Members
@NHSConfed
tell us staffing pressures are their biggest concern in terms of giving patients the best possible care so we're delighted the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will finally publish – a fitting gift ahead of the 75th anniversary 1/10
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None of this is to say that we don't have some concerns about the bill - as you will see from the statements we have issued. But honestly, 'the NHS is being privatised' is the least of them.
13/13 END
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Forgot to say last night, I'm having a night off from the kitchen... very excited to have had a day in London, a haircut, trip to
@NationalGallery
to see
#Titian
and now an early dinner at
@noblerotbar
. I'll be back at the cooker tomorrow...
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Celebrating my first meal from my new kitchen - and my birthday - with a brilliant brill.
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This story tells us everything need to be celebrating and backing, not waving bloody flags but putting money into research, healthcare & public transport (oh and don't forget social care even though it doesn't get a mention here).
Seriously, read 👇👇👇
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My timeline is full of
#nurseheroes
- & quite right too. But I think quite a few
#ITheroes
doing their bit tonight.
#notjustclinicalstaff
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To my utter astonishment I am delighted to say that I passed my final
@WSETglobal
Diploma exam!
Massive thanks
@WSETschool
for a fabulous few years from level 2 through to here. Met so many lovely people and tasted AMAZING wines.
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It's such an amazing privilege to be taking on this role, still pinching myself. Very much looking forward to meeting more
@NVTweeting
members and partners, and to hearing
@BolaOwolabi8
&
@RichardDMurray1
, and to thanking
@HNewiss
for leaving me such a great team.
This morning
@NVTweeting
is hosting an online event to welcome our new Chair of Trustees,
@buckinghamh
and to say a fond farewell to our outgoing chair,
@HNewiss
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Big day today interviewing for
@NVTweeting
CEO. I was absolutely blown away by the quality & diversity of applicants & just sorry we couldn't shortlist more. Huge thanks to our lived experience partners for their input to the process, and very best of luck to all the candidates!
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There are about a billion* things about NHS structures which are imperfect. There is NO perfect structure. Pick one - the one we have will do - and put your energies into building relationships so you can make the best of it where you are.
*this may be a slight overstatement
"Trusts should be abolished and brought under ICSs"
slip a little major reorganisation of the NHS in there, IPPR
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There is much to be welcomed in the
#HewittReview
report. But it’s also fair to say that my joy in reading it is not totally unalloyed. A 🧵👇
1/10
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While I'm proud as always of colleagues in
@NuffieldTrust
&
@TheKingsFund
for their excellent analysis, these findings are shameful. It doesn't have to be this way. And we don't need to change the funding system to fix it. (🧵 1/6)
🆕 Public satisfaction with the
#NHS
has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded, according to our analysis of the latest
@NatCen
#BritishSocialAttitudes
survey with
@TheKingsFund
. 🧵
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Can we have a bit of credit for Rosalind Franklin too please
@AntonyTiernan
? Without her work - used without her knowledge or permission - Crick & Watson wouldn't have done what they did. She died before she could share the Nobel Prize.
On this day in 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick described the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid in Nature magazine. The discovery of DNA helped revolutionise medical treatment in the NHS and elsewhere, improving prevention and treatment of disease
#NHS70
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For years I have read recipes for vincisgrassi - a rather luxurious version of lasagne from the Marche region. At last I am going to cook it. Sit back and enjoy...
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Now I get - and support - the intent behind the quote. But we didn't all get the chance to have two children. Enabling flexible working enables people in *all* their myriad personal circumstances to be the most productive they can be.
"A recent study found a woman with two children is the most productive member of staff you can hire"
@SophieRunning
on how we're missing the opportunity to keep
#flexible
working - which would not only benefit parents but also workplaces and the economy
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👇👇👇👇👇
So thrilled.
@FareShareUK
better off by £3000 because I tweeted some recipes and you were INCREDIBLY generous in response.
Happy Christmas 🎄 🎄🎄
Ps it doesn't have to stop here
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Welcome lots of new followers in the last 24 hours! I know you came for the health policy, but did you know you get cookery classes too? Not every night, but many.
Tonight, we're doing baked ricotta with tomato and courgette salad.
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I've been searching for this picture for ages... student nurse Susan Taylor in Oxford in the mid 60s, awarded the Radcliffe Gold Medal (
@OUHospitals
), later to become Sue Buckingham, midwife, health visitor, director of nursing, and my mum....
#WonderfulWomenDo
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Utterly thrilled that at last we can let everyone know that
@jacoblant
is the new CEO for
@NVTweeting
!
Please join me and all the Trustees in congratulating him, and in thanking
@Sarah_Sween
for everything she has done and in filling the interim role so brilliantly.
🧵
We have a very exciting announcement! 🎉
@jacoblant
, who is currently Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research and Insight at
@HealthwatchE
, will be joining the National Voices team as our new Chief Executive in May!
👉
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Health and care are delivered by people to people. So today I'm glad
@hcwomenleaders
celebrate
#NHS75Women
. Starting with my Mum as a student nurse in Oxford. Yet to become a midwife, a health visitor, an NCT teacher, a local councillor, a DoN. She has touched 1000s of lives.
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This has made me cry.
I don’t share this lightly but two years ago today this is how I said goodbye to my Mum. We stuck to the rules. Boris Johnson broke the rules he wrote. We aren’t moving on or forgetting. He’s got to go. But thank god for Julie x
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Strong words for me, but I can't even begin to say how revolted I feel by this image. No doubt this country has lived through more turbulent times, but few I can think of so much of our own making, and of this man's making.
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This is the most life affirming 5 minutes of a funeral ever. Ever.
Plus: Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill perform ‘Fairytale of New York’ as a reflection after Communion.
Can honestly say this is the first time I’ve ever seen dancing in the aisles at a funeral…
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The NHS just doesn't have non-clinical functions for fun... can we see similar threads explaining the roles of finance people, estates managers, information experts and the zillion other skills which keep the service going?
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Well, today was a day of beginnings & endings. Wishing the 42 new ICSs all the luck in the world, & marking the legal end of 1 of the best places I've ever worked, Monitor. Stunning
#SkiesFromGuys
& the joy of seeing so many old friends. Thankyou
@RachelBurnham
for all your help!
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I've been promising this for some time... & it's here at last, just in time for Christmas. A random selection of some of my own recipes & contributions from many of you. You can download it, & make a donation to
@FareShareUK
via the links in my blog here:
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We never did Father's Day in a big way... but on the 20th one since he died, and 50th since this picture was taken... still loved.
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Is too much health policy written by too few people? Do we get better policy from a diverse group of people or through looking at evidence from different sources? Join me,
@CharlotteAugst
@DrJudithSmith
@DrHNaqvi
&
@TimAldrich
in a Tweetchat 8 pm Thurs 19 Sept.
#PolicyDiversity
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I am SO proud & excited about this! I've been reading
@HSJnews
for something like 30 years now, and I can't remember ever seeing something like this before. Thanks to
@HSJEditor
& everyone else who made it happen.
Thread 🧵
We have exciting news to share! 📢
Next week, we have been given the exciting opportunity to ‘take over’
@HSJNews
📰
👉
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You've got this wrong
@EddieStobartCom
. Quite apart from the absolute rightness of naming a truck for Connor, in what world is it ok - in 2019 - to say you only name your trucks after women?
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Crossed Vauxhall Bridge against a tidal wave of lawyers coming the other way, walking 10k in the early evening sun to raise funds to ensure legal advice is available to all. Fundamental to justice.
#lawyershavehearts
Today I'm walking the 10k London Legal Walk to raise money for access to justice! Please sponsor me at
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I was tired tonight, but very much reinvigorated watching
@wmarybeard
&
@HillaryClinton
. On a day when hearing women's voices has never felt so important, they bring wisdom, humanity, strength and a whacking amount of humour, and rekindle hope.
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Happy birthday me! Oysters
@sargasso_bar
, ice-cream
@MorellisGelato
, lovely card from lovely
@NVTweeting
team 😊
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I fear the NHS is going to find out how reliant it is on the support of the voluntary sector the hard way. It's not just about services commissioned from the sector, it's all the invisible gaps which are being plugged...
This is really concerning and will reveal the extent to which the charity sector is relied on to fund and deliver many essential services to millions across the UK
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Wonderful to see
@CharlotteAugst
face to face for the first time in I don't know how long, to celebrate
@NVTweeting
many successes, talk Trustee recruitment (watch this space...) and to ignore the football almost completely!
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I'm not going to keep tweeting my runs, but just to say I have now done my first
#Couchto5K
graduate run... and further (a bit) and faster. I even managed to speed up a bit towards the end.
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Retweet of earlier thread with working links this time! As I prepare to move on from the
@NuffieldTrust
next week I've been thinking about some of the things I have found myself saying repeatedly over the last 7 years. A thread... (1/10)
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Time and tide wait for no man... and no woman either. Heading rapidly into my last fortnight at
@NuffieldTrust
. I am sad to be leaving, but there are blue skies behind those clouds and plenty to look forward to - watch this space!
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I was determined to get back to running 5k before my birthday... and did it with 2 days to spare. Maybe not the fastest, but still, this time last year never thought I'd be doing this...
#FifyOnFriday
#QuiteChuffed
(Strava includes walk beginning & end, Nike just the run bit).
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I am told my cooking threads are missed... I am still in the kitchen! Bit less during the week when commuting, but this is the weekend. And this place is less pleasant than it was... but perhaps I can lift it just a little. So... fennel risotto and scallops?
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A brand new kitchen and a stack of books from
@TopHatandTales
, what more could this particular woman want for her birthday?
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When this is all over - and one day it will be - the emergency planners will deserve an honours list all of their own.
A massive massive thank you to Barry our head of emergency preparedness resilience and recovery. Barry has been coordinating all this and last week our preparations. Invaluable, so calm and measured. Massive asset to our trust. Unsung hero
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"This infographic does not reflect the Government's view and has been removed from the campaign."
This is not just about the government. This is about a society where
#EverydaySexism
is so endemic that noone involved in any stage of producing the infographic saw what was wrong.
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Exams well and truly over, and yes
@RichardnotatKF
, occasionally I do say sod it, I'm getting a takeaway. And having it with (a quarter bottle of) champagne.
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Health outcomes are a result of a whole bunch of factors most of which are way outside the control of NHS leaders. Within the sphere of influence for ICSs maybe, but if he's serious about outcomes cross-government health in all policies is what's needed, not a leadership review.
Javid asked how differentiations in outcomes can be reduced across the country.
He says the leadership review can help with that, recognising the NHS has "brilliant leaders and we want to replicate that throughout the country".
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Day 1 done and I'm still alive. I think. More than slightly blown away by the volume of response and support - I'm really going to have to do it now aren't I? Thank you all.
Ok... deep breath... I fear I may regret this but if I don't make a public commitment it'll never happen. So... I have been meaning to do
#Couchto5k
for ages. But couldn't work out how to fit it in. Now I won't be commuting 4 hrs a day for a while I have no excuse. So tomorrow...
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I've found the responses of many clinicians to this really interesting. They have genuinely good reasons for taking histories multiple times. But it's not so clear to me that that's often explained to the patient. It's no wonder everyone gets frustrated...
'Patients should only have to tell their story once across social, primary and secondary care' - senior NHS boss tells
#Hsjprovider
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Just been sent the Cabinet rota, I seem to be down to cover DCMS on Tuesday week and DEFRA the following Friday. Can anyone swap with me?
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My most viewed tweet ever was nothing to do with health policy or even food, it was this one. And a year on, with the odd break for injury, weather & bubbling, I'm still going. Not very fast, but still...
#NotGivingUp
#ReallyQuiteProudOfMyself
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So with one working day to go before the end of 2023/24,
@NHSEngland
finally published the 'planning guidance' for 2024/25. A few thoughts... (🧵1/10)
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