Eastern Cheshire Health Fair 2015!

28^th September-2^nd October

On Wednesday 30^th September the first Eastern Cheshire Health Fair was held at Macclesfield Town Hall. It was an event that was open to everyone and it was a chance for people to see what local health and care organisations are doing to promote healthy lifestyles and access to services. The fair featured a market place of stalls with stallholders including Cheshire East Council, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and The Caring Together programme to name but a few.  It was very well attended by members of the public and I believe the event was a great success through feedback received on the day from attendees. 

I was very heavily involved in the organisation of the Caring Together stall for the event, creating leaflets, organising a rota for the stall and setting up the stall on the day amongst other things.
After any event held by the CCG an evaluation form is given out to all the attendees to ask for their feedback on how well they feel the event was ran and any suggestions for further events that are held. I was tasked by the Communications and Engagement team at the CCG to create an online SmartSurvey for the Health Fair to send out to all that attended.    

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working with Katie, another placement student at the CCG, on an outcomes based commissioning approach for the CCG. This week we had a meeting with members of the commissioning, contracts and transformation teams to discuss the proposed process we had come up with. This was a very informative meeting for all members as it helped everyone to understand this new approach towards outcomes based commissioning and the process that the CCG could adopt in order to achieve this. It was then decided that this meeting will become a regular occurrence in order for everyone to keep up to date with the progress of this new approach to commissioning.

Towards the end of this week I had my three month review with my line manager. I cannot believe I have been on placement for three months already! The time has flown by! This meeting with my manager was really helpful for me as we discussed and identified my areas of strengths and areas for improvement. It was really nice to hear all the positive things that my manager had to say about me and that she was really pleased with all the work that I have completed so far. Also she identified some areas for improvement for my next review. These areas I had already identified myself such as improving my confidence! This is something that I really struggle with so this could still take some time to develop but I’m getting there! Also I need to take part in some training opportunities for effective minute taking skills which I will definitely sign myself up to do! 

Brushing up on my Excel skills!

14^th-18^th September

At the beginning of this week I attended an Intermediate Excel Training course at Clark House in Macclesfield. I wanted to attend this course just be able to keep my excel skills up-to-date and fresh in my mind for completing work on my placement year and also for when I go back to University. This was very beneficial for me as it refreshed my memory on several areas that I had previously covered at university and also I learnt some new skills that I will now be able to put into practice. Also, I have signed up to an Advanced Excel course in the next couple of weeks which will build upon the skills I have already learned.

Also this week I was asked by my manager Jane to help her with some background research around the maternity review she is currently looking into for the Eastern Cheshire maternity services, before the national review is published in a few months time. I was required to look at different data sets we have available to us including; the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator set (CCG OIS), the Cheshire East Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Public Health Outcome Framework (PHOF) and establish any areas where Eastern Cheshire is under performing in relation to the national average. As a result of this analysis we will then need to identify ways in which we can move forward and improve these problem areas.    

Towards the end of the week I had a meeting with Brenda Smith from Cheshire East Council who is the Director of Adult Social Care and Independent living. This meeting was to give me an overview of how her role in the local council and relationship with the CCG works. Brenda is particularly involved with the Caring Together programme, as am I, so over my time with the CCG I am sure there will be opportunities for me to work alongside her. It was very interesting to understand her role as both a strategic commissioner and a provider of local services and her link with the CCG.        

Outcome Based Commissioning

7^th-11^th September 2015

At the beginning of the week I was working on a project with the other placement student at the CCG, Katie, and we were asked to put together an Outcomes Based Commissioning process that the CCG can follow as it is now moving towards an outcomes based approach to commissioning.  Outcome Based Commissioning is a new approach to commissioning health and social care services in the UK. It is a way of paying for health and care services based on the outcomes that are important to the people using them not simply organisational activities or performance. The process we designed illustrated the pathway from identifying the problem in the current system to service design and agreeing outcome measurements.  This was a really exciting project to be working on as it is a new approach for the CCG to take in regards to commissioning as there are not many other CCG’s in the UK currently adopting this way of commissioning.   

Also this week I attended the monthly Care Professionals Group (CPG) that takes place at the CCG.  For this meeting I was in charge of completing the administrative duties including taking the minutes. I was quite nervous taking the minutes as I had never really done this before and I was afraid I would miss some of the vital information that was discussed. However once I was in the meeting I felt more comfortable taking the minutes and after reviewing them with another member of staff, I was assured that I had collected all of the important and relevant information required.

Finally this week I also continued with the Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) project I have been working on. I have been carrying out some research into the other workstreams that are involved within the Caring Together programme; General Practice and Community Based Coordinated Care(CBCC) and identifying whether there are any overlaps in the specifications that have been written in relation to ACSC. As the other workstreams have been up and running for a while now we wanted to identify any overlaps in the workstreams  before getting underway with the Acute Workstream. 

NHS Health and Care Innovation Expo 2015

1^st-4^th September 2015

This week I was fortunate enough to attend the Health and Care Expo Event 2015 at Manchester Central which was hosted by NHS England. The main theme of the event was the NHS Five Year Forward View 2014/2015 to 2018/2019. The event was showcasing some of the great, innovative work that has been carried out so far and exploring the next steps that must be taken in order to realise the vision of services that are provided within the NHS.

The event was split up into different areas; there were large numbers of stands with all the exhibitors at the event showcasing all of their achievements and providing lots of information regarding the services they are providing. Also there were pop-up universities where experts were providing targeted master-classes in all aspects of transformation including ‘Better care at less cost’ and ‘Managing conflicts of interest’ to name but a few. In addition there were leading national and international speakers on two stages; Future NHS stage and Innovate stage including the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremey Hunt MP and NHS England Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, who gave their unique perspectives and insights into their work and plans.

This was an extremely informative event and I took away a lot of interesting information. It was very clear to see all the attendees at the event were all extremely passionate about changing the way the NHS works for the better, move towards a more innovative approach, and make lasting improvements in both the experiences and the outcomes of the people the NHS serves.  

GP Practice visit...

24^th-28^th August 2015

This week marked two months of me being a member of the CCG team. I can honestly say I am really enjoying my time on placement so far and I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by!

At the beginning of this week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend a day at Handforth Health Centre to experience what it is like in a GP practice on a day-to-day basis. This was a very worthwhile experience as prior to the visit I had very little knowledge of the running of General Practice. As part of my visit I spent time in the reception area and I witnessed how busy all of the staff are on Monday morning, taking phone calls and also completing administrative duties from the weekend. Each day the surgery has a large number of appointments available that patients are able to book as urgent appointments on the day. As a result the phone lines are inundated with a vast amount of calls on a daily basis, and there has to be the staff at the practice to cope with this demand.     

In addition as part of my visit to the practice I had meetings with both the Practice Manager and Assistant Practice Manager who were able to provide me with a great insight into their varied roles and responsibilities within the practice. They are responsible for everything within the practice from finance to HR. The manager described a GP practice as ‘Its own little business’ which I believe this is a very fitting description, as the practice manager has to take great responsibility for the organisation of the practice so they have to have a very varied skill set. As a result of my visit I gained a vast amount of information relating to General Practice, which has provided me with a great understanding of the day-to-day running of a practice.  

Also this week I’ve been working on a project relating to ambulatory care sensitive conditions and conducting some research into how the CCG can look to integrate care for patients with these conditions within the community setting rather than them being admitted to hospital for treatment. After carrying out lots of research into this area it has become evident that very little locations in the UK have undertaken work in this field, so this is an exciting project for the Caring Together programme as the ECCCG will be one of the first CCG’s in the UK to introduce this scheme. 

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!