There I was 6 days ago quietly minding mine own business observing a session at the Keele University Clinical Management & Leadership course & now I am writing my first ever blog! How did that happen? The simple truth is that I had one of those OMG or ah ha moments when after years of attempting to tackle difficult and challenging operational matters there was an approach to delivery that seemed to have the potential to bring order, discipline and a sense of hope. I can pin this on an introduction to improvement science led by Simon Dodds. I went home that evening thinking I must have more of this and need to understand the foundations of putting improvement science into practice. I had already committed myself and ‘paid’ Simon a compliment by approaching him after his session and blurting out “where do I learn this stuff”?
In my career to date I have undertaken many operational roles & spent 10 years at Board level including stints as CEO. What this tells you is that I have observed hospitals, how they function or don’t as the case may be and on a number of occasions have failed to make a difference that is sustainable because my tool kit wasn’t up to it. So 6 days on from the ah ha moment and a couple of swift drinks at a hostelry in Warwickshire I have enrolled on the FISH (Foundations in Improvement Science in Healthcare) course, am writing this blog and looking forward to finally having an approach, alongside my other leadership training, to help me resolve the myriad of operational challenges that beset our great NHS. My big hope is to become a practitioner capable of sharing the approach of improvement science to as wider audience as possible. The 24 years of experience in operational leadership in the NHS tells me that very few of us have these skills that would make a very significant difference to the quality, safety, people engagement & efficiency of the services we all want to be proud of.
So I am going to write my thoughts down as I go along my FISH course so that in some small way I might influence others to want to know more. I might even become a better blogger as a result!
Feel free to comment below or email me on steven.peak@sky.com if you want to comment or question my wave of enthusiasm!