Weeknotes E49
Each week I’m going to keep a running update of the work I’ve done & things I’ve learned along the way.
My current priority:
Supporting the Healthy Start private beta, assisting the formation of NHSX & working with mental health teams
Some interesting and shareable things that happened this week. Other more mundane things also happened…
Office move
I have calculated i’ve worked in about 7 different offices in the last 3 years. Skipton House (SKH) is the 7th stop and now the home of NHSX London team. I have been working in SKH a few days a week anyway so didn’t feel earth shattering. The cycle storage is better, the water tap was broke. You know, typical stuff.
Did some packing, did some unpacking. Found my beloved lost mug. Stuck a Metro bookmark on my new locker. All seems good.
Anniversary
I know this is weeknote 48 but i’ve actually been in the department for over a year now (I have holidays sometimes where I don’t write weeknotes). It’s been fun. I like health. Many interesting opportunities to improve. Much passion and dedication to the cause.
Interviews
More interviews. These take time but a fun distraction.
Future prevention work
I volunteered to help out the prevention team that are working on the already announced Green Paper. Been giving some constructive input, suggested things to research and connecting the dots with people who are working in the field. It’s sort of a side hustle but I do it because I care about it.
Uptake map
Updated Isaac and I’s little choropleth map showing uptake stats for Healthy Start. This is our 6th edition, the new scheme will hopefully make this entire effort defunct but it’s good to deliver stuff to users (being open and transparent too) and show what can be done.
Greening Digital Group
I volunteered (note to self: perhaps I volunteer too much) to be on a cross-healthcare/org working group trying to make the NHS sustainable, with a focus on tech/digital practices and kit.
I personally see this wrapped up in the standards work that NHSX should be considering. I need to persist making the case when the org officially gets running.
Bits and bobs discussed/raised:
- how to get input and where can we influence
- Green ICT maturity models
- Is the cloud green? It’s nuanced
- Social value in procurement
- Guide to measuring social value
- Data storage. How much fidelity do we need? How much data do we need to keep? What can be less good quality (images? video?), when can we delete? Keeping everything has its costs.
- one email generates 10g of CO₂ per year. ( Source: Cleanfox ) I’ve just worked out that 48000 emails would calculate to the same carbon footprint as a flight from London to New York City.
- should we consider getting help (opportunity for an apprentice/student) to help us evaluate and embed good practice?
MH write up/update
Did a write up with Rebecca on what we’ve been up to so far. It’s on my work laptop, I am not going to re-write but stuff has been happening. Lots of it already written about in weeknotes!
Wolfson Initiative
Was on a call about £10 million Wolfson mental health initiative. Read about some of the bids. Some interesting stuff, I hope I can have the chance to input further down the line.
SABP visit
Wonderful trip out to visit @SABPDigital. Amazing to hear them investing in multidisciplinary teams. "Fund teams, not projects" @NHSX @NHSEngland pic.twitter.com/An6wel3dhj
— Colin Pattinson (@ColinPattinson) May 21, 2019
Went and visiting the Surrey and Borders Partnership Digital team. A theme in these weeknotes is the joy of being immersed in the work I do. This was no different. Heard about their efforts to put people first, embed user centered design practices, build multidisciplinary teams, work on outcome based problems (with how might we type questions) and aspirations to not make shiny baubles but sustainable teams that solve real problems.
I learned a lot, I agreed with a lot of things said. I said some other stuff. It was fun. The MH super group might need to go on tour to other trusts soon.
Great sharing experiences with the MH ‘Super Group’ @NHSX @ColinPattinson @BecksGate @Psycle_Doc - let’s continue the conversation 💫🌈👊 and welcome to the #pinksocks tribe #peoplebeforetechnology #bethechange #DigitalHealth @_DougStewart @tobyavery @ASErskine @SABPDigital pic.twitter.com/2E6maIOv7i
— Mike Cavaye (@mikecavaye) May 21, 2019
NHSX moonshot ideas
I have a list of ideas to explore. Some are ideas that have come from recent chats. Some from my own brain. I’ve been suggesting things for a while. Is this what people call entrepreneurial spirit?
What I’ve been reading
- The downfall of the infamous Le Vele housing estate
- Normalising eating insects, now available on the high street. Large proportion of the world already eat them of course. Interesting environmental case being made “many insects are eaten completely whole - wings and all - whereas we only consume around 40% of a cow.”
- Using grocery bills to infer health inequalities.
- Colleague trying to make the web better by getting his hands dirty in the AMP advisory group.
- San Francisco bans facial recognition.
- Beautifully presented laws of UX.
- A guide on how to pair experiments.
- The impact of body image. “57% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed admit to having felt anxious because of their body image, compared with 30% of 45- to 54-year-olds and 20% of over 55s.”