A day at NHS Confed Expo 2024: what I learned….
I was privileged to be asked to tag along with our good friends at NHS Clinical Leaders Network to Day 1 of the NHS Confed Expo in Manchester on 12th June.
As the Number One event highlighting everything good, innovative and hopeful in the NHS of the year, it was great to be there.
It was actually my third time at Expo, and every time I’ve come away having had loads of good conversations, hearing about the challenges and the opportunities that are happening in health and social care: and this year was no different.
This year I made sure I took the time to listen to more of the talks and the keynotes (including the Big Ticket Events by NHS England CEO Amanda Pritchard, and Confed CEO Matthew Taylor).
Here are my main takeaways from the day:
1. The ambitions for the NHS App are exciting
The first thing I did on arrival was head over to the Digital Innovation and AI Theatre to listen to a great panel discussion on “Supporting digitally engaged citizens”.
We’ve been working on campaigns and public engagement with various iterations of the NHS App for a few years now – including earlier this year with East Cheshire NHS Trust.
What struck me in this experience, and in this discussion, is how various things like the pandemic, and the successful integration of 3rd party systems have led to an undeniable tipping point for how it’s being used.
At the panel discussion, there was talk of the App becoming “the front door to the NHS”, which is a huge ambition that I have a huge amount of admiration for. Our experience definitely demonstrates that having a simple-to-use, and easy to access app that brings all your information together in one place is a no-brainer for patients: and it’s great that NHS leaders are beginning to embrace it as the One App To Rule Them All.
And with 34million registered users, the public are clearly doing so too.
2. We’re better understanding how to engage people with digital
In this same discussion, I was also heartened by the regular use of the word “trust”.
This meant, having a robust infrastructure that patients trust. But just as importantly it meant health leaders actually trusting patients to use technology and to take more control of their own health and wellbeing.
When patients are able to do this, they’re more informed about their own conditions and lives in general; leading to more timely, more appropriate care. It’s really about giving patients the tools, and the responsibility to do more for themselves – and in the panel’s experience, this is absolutely what happens when the relationship between clinician and patient is less paternalistic, and more like a partnership.
Technology is a perfect tool for facilitating this better, more trusting relationship.
And, dare I say, good comms are an essential part of this mix too.
3. But there are TOO MANY competing digital systems…
I always enjoy walking round the various displays and stands by commercial organisations that have hired space to be in the main hall. There are always some really good and interesting ones, with very innovative engagement techniques.
(I particularly like the ones that give out free artisan coffee….)
One thing struck me this time though. And, to be honest, it struck me last year too.
I counted about 12 different digital systems on display – and I’m sure there were a lot more. Some were patient facing, some were GP facing, some were both, some were population health focused, some were condition focused, some were App based, some were browser based, some involved bespoke software…. You get the picture.
Whilst, all of these systems, I’m sure are great on their own merits: this is officially too many.
It’s impossible for patients to navigate this degree of complexity. And anyone who has done anything around implementing digital health systems, knows of horror stories of one set of GP practices on one system, and another set on another system, and the hospital trust on another – and none of them talking to each other (because there is a commercial imperative on behalf of the software companies for them to not do).
Whilst we make the most of the technological revolution in health; it’s vital that we work to reduce complexity, rather than adding to it.
Whilst I’m not suggesting the establishment of a Soviet-style Central Bureau of Health Apps; at the same time, there needs to be better coordination, and dare I say even some common standards to work to, so that this amazing technology is accessible and useful to patients – and ideally navigable within the NHS App.
4. The NHS is “damaged but not destroyed”
I enjoyed Amanda Pritchard’s keynote on the Wednesday too.
If I’m going to be a bit critical of other keynotes I’ve seen at Expo before, I’d say that they often painted a bit too much of a rosy picture of the NHS, that staff’s and patients’ day-to-day lived experience don’t quite match up to.
That might well be the product of the fact that usually there is a keynote from the Secretary of State for Health (whoever he or she happened to be at that particular time), whose interests it is in, to be as positive as possible. This year’s Expo, happened during the General Election period, and I would argue actually helped the speeches be a bit more honest about the challenges the system faces; as the speakers felt a bit more free to express an opinion.
I think her speech hit the right tone, of the stark reality of the present, and the brilliant opportunities of the future; whilst reminding us all of the central mission of the NHS. There were some good one-liners in there: post pandemic, the NHS is “damaged, but not destroyed”, and that “improvement has to be everyone’s business”.
Both seem to reflect my experience. Every NHS organisation we work with has fundamental challenges; but there are brilliant people doing brilliant things, showing that with a collective sense of endeavour, good things are possible.
It’s “time to think big and radical” according to the keynote. Which I agree with. Doing that within the sometimes labyrinthine process of how decisions are made and budget allocated might be another challenge – but it’s great to hear this challenge to the status quo come from the top.
5. NHS Managers are important and need to be celebrated
An interesting, and recurring theme I heard throughout the day was the over-due but very welcome acknowledgement of the important role that NHS managers play.
It’s very easy to criticise NHS managers – and many political chancers and rent-a-mouth column writers are reliably inclined to do so; but it can’t be underestimated how vital their contributions are.
NHS organisations deal with enormous (often over-running) budgets, declining physical infrastructures, huge amounts of staff (and the resulting complications that arise when managing lots of different flawed human beings), and are (rightly) subject to huge public scrutiny, given that there work is, literally, a matter of life and death. You need people that are good at dealing with all of these things in the NHS.
That this needs to be stated feels disappointing, but here we are. And it was good to hear this reinforced.
6. Do we really understand what “strategic” comms means?
Towards the mid-afternoon period of the day, as delegates started to visibly flag and need coffee, I had a lot more conversations with people, which was lovely.
But the last organised thing I went to was a brilliant live recording of a podcast by NHS Confed, which was a round table discussion on the state of comms in the NHS.
There were a range of interesting topics – including a discussion around increasing the diversity of comms professionals in the NHS; and around the perennial challenge of comms “being strategic”.
This is a criticism often laid at the door of comms teams. And whilst it’s good, in my view, that the aspiration to “be strategic” is seen as important; I’m not 100% sure how many Boards of Trusts or ICBs really understand what they’re asking for.
“Being strategic” (in comms at least) is about defining a shared goal related to an important organisational outcome, and creating and following a plan of action to achieve that goal via creative means. This means allocating time, resource (not always financial), and support to the team tasked with it.
How many comms teams are really given the space to do this? How many comms teams whilst having the request to “be strategic” hanging over their heads are spending most of their time on last-minute requests for a “thing” that’s needed “ASAP”?
How many comms teams are still just seen as a media relations function – when in reality this can make up a relatively small proportion of their work?
In a fast changing and critical environment such as a Trust or an ICB, we need to be realistic. There are always going to be things that happen out of the blue, where short-term tactical action is required. That’s the nature of the job. But if “being strategic” is an attribute we want to see in our NHS comms teams (and I agree it should be), then time, space, and backup is needed at a leadership level to bring this out.
I’m not sure when this particular podcast will be released, but maybe check here. But when it is, be sure to check it out, it was an excellent discussion.
So lots to think about, and lots of opportunities for engagement with people and creative communications to help lead change.
And another big thanks to Suzy and Andy at the NHS CLN for having me along with them.
