Another busy week for me at the CCG!

17^th-21^st August 2015

After being away for a weeks holiday in Ireland it was time again to return to work this week feeling refreshed and ready for the challenges ahead.

At the start of the week I was involved with work around the Community Based Co-ordinated Care (CBCC) specification as part of the Caring Together Programme. I was asked by the project lead to re-organise and put together the appendices for this specification in order for it to be finalised in the coming weeks. Also as part of the CBCC work I have been involved in, I have been working on putting together a summary document for the CBCC Reference Group Workshop which was held on the 9^th July. This document will provide a summary including areas such as; the workshop objectives, a summary of the key points from discussions that took place and also recommendations and suggested actions that came out as a result of the event. This was a very worthwhile task as it helped me to recognise the key themes and areas that came out of the event and recommendations for the next steps within the CBCC Workstream.

I’ve also this week had an introduction to the finance coding system, Oracle, which the ECCCG uses to code all of its invoices. Each day several invoices come onto the system from different providers and they all need to be checked and coded in order for them to be approved and then paid by the finance managers. It was extremely useful for me to gain an insight into this system and I was able to produce myself a useful guide to follow of how to use the system. Hopefully whilst I am at the CCG on placement I will be able to have experience within the finance department.

As part of my time at the CCG I am fortunate enough to be able to take part in extra training and events to develop my skills set. I have been offered the opportunity to undertake The ‘Edward Jenner Programme’ whilst on placement. This programme will allow me to build a strong set of essential leadership skills that can help to enhance my confidence and competence in my role at the CCG. In order to achieve the ‘Edward Jenner’ qualification a written piece of work is required to be completed and focuses on the leadership differences gained from taking part in the programme.

My first month being a placement student at the CCG

3^rd-7^th August 2015

This week marked my first month at the ECCCG and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone already! I have learnt so much in just the short space of time I have been here.

At the beginning of this week I attended the Care Professionals Group meeting (CPG) with my line manager. GPs, clinicians and members of staff at the CCG attend this meeting and discuss relevant topics regarding the Caring Together programme. The areas this meeting covered were relating to; The Integrated Care Dashboard, an update was given on the Community Based Co-ordinated Care (CBCC) specification and the Clinical Accountability Framework.

Also this week I had another 1:1 meeting with my manager and we went through the format of the NHS Personal Development Review(PDR) Appraisal which is required to be completed as part of monitoring my progress whilst on my placement with the CCG and also it outlines some objectives which I should achieve. In addition we discussed and went through my key responsibilities within the transformation team and many projects were outlined that I can get involved with which all sound very interesting!    

Towards the end of the week as part of my introductions to the teams at the CCG I had meetings with members of the Contracts Team and the Clinical Team. This was really helpful for me to get a wider picture of the roles and responsibilities of each team and also how they link together within the CCG.

Finally, this week a new member of staff joined the CCG as another Student Placement, Katie Hall, who will be working within the Business and Commissioning Team. It will be really good to be able to link in with her during my time at the CCG and possibly work on projects together which is really exciting!