A day in the life of ... a healthcare commissioning support unit manager

Leigh Griffin, managing director of the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit, says at 55 he feels 30 years younger. Photograph: Phil Tragen

My day starts at 5.30am. Like any right-thinking person, the first priority is a cup of tea before I tend to the dog, Dylan, a Welsh springer spaniel and reluctant morning companion.

Refreshed, I'm out of the house by 6.30am. I live in rural north Shropshire, so head down country lanes, picking up the pace of the day by the time I reach Salford, where the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) is based. I'm helped by a good dose of loud music on the way in. Current favourites include The National and Depeche Mode – although I always try to catch the Radio 4 news bulletin.

The CSU provides a wide range of support services from IT and data management to large-scale service redesign across 12 NHS clinical commissioning groups and 10 local authorities. Arriving in the office by 8am, I review the day's priorities.

I'm a list-maker, and each evening plan the following day in terms of meetings, plans or priorities; I run through these again, fresh and armed with caffeine.

While no two days follow a similar pattern, my work falls into three broad categories: organisational development and operations; working with our clients; and what I like to call "horizon scanning" – working up a strategy that allows us to define the balance between competition and collaboration with our CSU peers, for example.

My morning is typically focused on internal work. I might write the foreword to our weekly newsletter, meet with directors or deliver a fortnightly face-to-face briefing. Briefings are filmed and available for all colleagues to view from their bases across the region.

When I do these briefings I always seek to be honest, open and, above all, human. Connection and resonance with all members of our extended team (almost 500 staff) is essential. With our staff offering 14 services across many bases, it is important that we have common values and a culture of openness.

I believe that we stand or fall by the relationships we have with our clients, so I spend some time each day reviewing the services we deliver and connecting with our clients.

The focus is on how commissioning can add tangible value and make positive changes for our healthcare clients. We must understand their needs, the challenges they are facing and the opportunities that NHS reform will offer them – especially as many are new and still being shaped as organisations.

Each day I make some time for development, individually and as an organisation. As a senior leader, one of the major challenges for me is to avoid micro-management and retain focus on strategy and innovation. It's important I step back and take a rounder view. It's a challenge to strike the right balance, but a nice problem to have.

Before I leave for the day I make sure to deal with the practical business of emails, drawing up a list and taking any reading home for the night. With that done, I head back to Shropshire, with more music and The Archers (my only concession to middle age).

Back at home, there's normally time for an hour of work before tea, and either a drink in the village pub or some TV; I'm a box set viewer. The last thing running in my mind before I go to sleep tends to be a list of things to do the following day. I do struggle to switch off, but a good book and the occasional use of headphones helps.

Apart from my tastes in rural radio drama, I feel closer to 25 than the 55 years my birth certificate indicates. Although I enjoyed being a primary care trust chief executive, I can honestly say I have never felt more energised by my work than today. The challenge of demonstrating the value of commissioning at scale, while understanding and responding to individual client needs, keeps me buzzing.

I've been involved in something special embedding commissioning support in Greater Manchester, and I would like to continue here for a considerable length of time.

• If you would like to feature in our 'day in the life of series', or know someone who would, then let us know by emailing healthcare@theguardian.com

This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to receive regular emails and exclusive offers.

View the original article here

A day in the life of ... a healthcare commissioning support unit manager

Leigh Griffin, managing director of the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit, says at 55 he feels 30 years younger. Photograph: Phil Tragen

My day starts at 5.30am. Like any right-thinking person, the first priority is a cup of tea before I tend to the dog, Dylan, a Welsh springer spaniel and reluctant morning companion.

Refreshed, I'm out of the house by 6.30am. I live in rural north Shropshire, so head down country lanes, picking up the pace of the day by the time I reach Salford, where the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) is based. I'm helped by a good dose of loud music on the way in. Current favourites include The National and Depeche Mode – although I always try to catch the Radio 4 news bulletin.

The CSU provides a wide range of support services from IT and data management to large-scale service redesign across 12 NHS clinical commissioning groups and 10 local authorities. Arriving in the office by 8am, I review the day's priorities.

I'm a list-maker, and each evening plan the following day in terms of meetings, plans or priorities; I run through these again, fresh and armed with caffeine.

While no two days follow a similar pattern, my work falls into three broad categories: organisational development and operations; working with our clients; and what I like to call "horizon scanning" – working up a strategy that allows us to define the balance between competition and collaboration with our CSU peers, for example.

My morning is typically focused on internal work. I might write the foreword to our weekly newsletter, meet with directors or deliver a fortnightly face-to-face briefing. Briefings are filmed and available for all colleagues to view from their bases across the region.

When I do these briefings I always seek to be honest, open and, above all, human. Connection and resonance with all members of our extended team (almost 500 staff) is essential. With our staff offering 14 services across many bases, it is important that we have common values and a culture of openness.

I believe that we stand or fall by the relationships we have with our clients, so I spend some time each day reviewing the services we deliver and connecting with our clients.

The focus is on how commissioning can add tangible value and make positive changes for our healthcare clients. We must understand their needs, the challenges they are facing and the opportunities that NHS reform will offer them – especially as many are new and still being shaped as organisations.

Each day I make some time for development, individually and as an organisation. As a senior leader, one of the major challenges for me is to avoid micro-management and retain focus on strategy and innovation. It's important I step back and take a rounder view. It's a challenge to strike the right balance, but a nice problem to have.

Before I leave for the day I make sure to deal with the practical business of emails, drawing up a list and taking any reading home for the night. With that done, I head back to Shropshire, with more music and The Archers (my only concession to middle age).

Back at home, there's normally time for an hour of work before tea, and either a drink in the village pub or some TV; I'm a box set viewer. The last thing running in my mind before I go to sleep tends to be a list of things to do the following day. I do struggle to switch off, but a good book and the occasional use of headphones helps.

Apart from my tastes in rural radio drama, I feel closer to 25 than the 55 years my birth certificate indicates. Although I enjoyed being a primary care trust chief executive, I can honestly say I have never felt more energised by my work than today. The challenge of demonstrating the value of commissioning at scale, while understanding and responding to individual client needs, keeps me buzzing.

I've been involved in something special embedding commissioning support in Greater Manchester, and I would like to continue here for a considerable length of time.

• If you would like to feature in our 'day in the life of series', or know someone who would, then let us know by emailing healthcare@theguardian.com

This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to receive regular emails and exclusive offers.

View the original article here

A day in the life of ... a neurological care home unit manager

Herold Pink believes it is vital to get to know all the residents and always makes time to talk to them. Photograph: Herold Pink

I'm awake at 6am and grab a coffee before jumping in the shower. It's too early for breakfast, but there are usually some biscuits when I get to the office.

I iron my tunic and then brace myself for the 40-minute drive through rural Lincolnshire to the Eagle Wood neurological care centre in Peterborough. It's usually fine, but if I get stuck behind a combine harvester it can get the day off to a bad start.

I clock in before 8am, and make my way to the unit I manage, which cares for people requiring neuro-rehabilitation. Whoever has been on duty will tell me if there are any matters to deal with.

I make sure we have the right staffing levels for the day, check my emails and spend time walking round the unit on my own. It's vital to get to know all the residents – I always make time to talk to them.

One of my main tasks is to assess patients who have been referred to one of the five units at Eagle Wood. Earlier today I set off to Norfolk for an assessment on a man in hospital with young-onset Alzheimer's and, as is often the case, it presents its own challenges.

The aim of such an assessment is to understand a patient's circumstances, and find out how we can meet their needs at Eagle Wood. When I arrived at the hospital, the nurse assigned to me had only been working there for a day or two and didn't know the patient at all. I was left scratching my head.

I managed to piece things together by talking to some of the clinical team, but still felt short on detail. Fortunately, the patient's wife arrived and was able to help out with background information such as dietary requirements, toilet arrangements, family history, as well as small but important details such as how many sugars her husband takes in his tea.

Although I now work for PJ Care, an independent provider to the NHS, I have worked in the NHS and I know the pressure the nurses are under. But these kinds of unnecessary lapses can make it tough for the patient and their family.

I carry out assessments all over the country. I was recently in Putney, south London, and then Sheffield. Assessments can be in hospitals, at people's homes or care centres. When I'm away we have experienced staff looking after the unit, and I'm always on call if I'm needed.

When I return to the office I just have time for a sandwich before compiling my care report.

All residents have different needs, from specialist equipment like a hoist to a particular pressure-relieving mattress. Some have particularly challenging behaviour, such as aggression, that we need to take into account.

When I've completed my report, it goes to our head office in Milton Keynes where the finance team work out costings and forward a recommendation to commissioners.

Other matters on my agenda include checking a resident's medication, helping with training and supervision, and reviews of treatment and behaviour. At the end of the day I finish up by making sure staff rotas are up to date. I set out for home at around 6pm.

I've always wanted a career in healthcare. I initially wanted to be a doctor, but as an 18-year-old, spending eight more years in training and education just wasn't very appealing. I chose nursing instead. I qualified in 1988, have worked as a registered nurse in the NHS, spent a year working in Toronto, and have been managing care homes since 1997.

My work can be incredibly rewarding. We had one bed-bound gentleman brought in with a serious brain injury. He wasn't even able to sit up or speak. He had extensive physiotherapy, massage, psychological therapy and emotional support. Eventually we made a breakthrough and he was able to sit.

Then a little later, he began to talk. No-one ever expected it. It was the most amazing thing.

You know you're in the right job when you can witness something like this happen.

Herold Pink is unit manager at the Eagle Wood neurological care centre in Peterborough, run by PJ Care

If you would like to feature in our day in the life of ... series, or know someone who would, then let us know by emailing healthcare@guardian.co.uk

This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to receive regular emails and exclusive offers.

View the original article here