April 2009

If we’d known the start point, we wouldn’t have ended up here!

If we’d known the start point, we wouldn’t have ended up here!

What sort of person are you?

By now, just about everyone has a Myers-Briggs profile, and probably a whole lot of other profiles too. We've learnt that not only are other people different but that other people's styles can complement our own - round out the square bits in our own personality giving the team a smoother ride.

But how does this affect how we communicate with people (and I'm thinking particularly about the difficult interface between front-line care professionals and managers/ strategists/ budget holders)?
Sould you like a sure-fire way of both understanding, and being understood, by "the other side"?

The Hippocratic Oath

Focus on the individual patient and their immediate need can conflict with community welfare, conserving economic resources, supporting the criminal justice system or simply making money for the physician or his employer. Is a doctor is almost obliged by his/her vows as a doctor to ignore Public Health priorities or the strategic objectives of the health economy to serve the immediate needs of the patient in front of them?

What does this mean in practice?

Clinical Quality vs. Profit

They say another key difference between clinicians and managers is that managers are only interested in what will make money, whereas clinicians are only interested in delivering the highest quality. I don't know if you've studied Lean methodology in any detail? It's a series of techniques for improving the delivery of services and products, and NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has released a number of guides of its Productive series, Productive Ward, etc.

Recent Additions and Updates

New pages added in the last 45 days (max 5)

More for your money? Private healthcare vs Publicly funded

Life expectancy vs %GDP health spend

Which is better - private funding or public? Which gives a better outcome for the individual (* clinical outcome, * user experience, * cost-effective, * sustainable) and is there a clear picture?

One way to examine this question is to look at different countries in the world and see what works for them.  I tackle this in the latest blog on Technorati.

UK Parties, Politics and Healthcare

Your politicians - listening to you?I ask you - if you were to design a new national health service from scratch, would you really design it with nobody to think ahead and make decisions on resources?

So why are the main political parties in UK engaging in their favourite sport of manager bashing?

Gossip - friend or foe?

How stuff works - Gossip

Do you see gossip as a waste of time? Do you suffer from spiteful or destructive rumours, disrupting the team and destroying team spirit? Do you find it impossible to control - chop off one head and two more appear somewhere else?

Read how Minney.org helps organisations to use this social glue for good ...

Winter Olympics - Downhill Skiing is like Management Consultancy

One chance, 100 seconds in 4 yearsYou only have one chance to make a first impression. 

In fact, you only have one chance each time, to make a first impression that sets the scene for that day, that job, that opportunity.

Capacity Planning - Flexibility

What of those toilet cubicles which allow for both sexes - they have a little notice on the outside saying "either"?