I walked into a room recently which was jam packed with secondary care clinicians and managers. I was the lone commissioner. The meeting was a peer review visit to support the development and improvement of vascular services. I recognised the chair. We had both sat together in an ante room awaiting interviews for a senior […]
Category: Martin McShane
Martin McShane: Substantially amend
“If you feel confused you probably know what is going on.” Out in PCT land it is fascinating to watch and listen to all the noise and thunder in the stratosphere. The pause is in full momentum. The events of May 5th are having repercussions with posturing and postulations about substantial amendments to the health […]
Martin McShane: The calm
As a child I remember standing on a beach and marvelling at how unnaturally still and calm everything seemed. It was a few hours before a hurricane hit the coast. The financial year has been accounted for – literally. The finance team worked seven day weeks to complete all the work that was necessary and […]
Martin McShane: Evolution or revolution?
The announcement of a pause in the progress of the legislative process has been serendipitous for me. It coincided with a series of events where I could listen to a variety of interesting people offering their take on the reforms. The rap, which thousands have watched, even in America, was referenced on numerous occasions. It […]
Martin McShane: Consciously unconscious
I was in a meeting last week with the seven chairs of the new consortia, two other executives from the new PCT cluster, and an external consultant who was giving an independent overview of the context and the challenges, and how they might be jointly and severally addressed. The content and debate was engaging and […]
Martin McShane: Patients as customers
Sometimes you get a sense of cultural change: someone tells you a story and simultaneously you think “that’s a good idea” and “times they are a changin’.” […]
Martin McShane: A confusion of choice.
I chaired the specialised commissioning group last week which was fascinating (and intense work). Ranged around the table were people skilled and experienced in public health, planning, procurement, finance, and a representative of the public who brought common sense and sensible challenge. One of the key issues we debated was whether patient choice could be […]
Martin McShane: Development through delivery and delivery through development.
Almost all our emergent consortia have completed their elections. Chairs are being identified and the process of change and transition is accelerating. Someone asked me last week whether the process we were embarking on was irreversible. Psychologically, I think it would be very hard to reverse it but, more importantly, across the country the clustering […]
Martin McShane: Phoenix – myth or reality?
I attended, what I think, was the last National Patient Safety Forum last week. I have been a member since it was set up following the publication of Safety First. I was worried that safety was going to get neglected as the National Patient Safety Agency’s abolition was announced in the bonfire of the quangos. […]
Martin McShane: One organisation?
In a recent letter Sir David Nicholson began to make clearer how he sees the NHS commissioning board and GP commissioners working together. It is a very important letter and warrants reading very carefully. The appointment of Sir David as the Chief Executive designate of the NHS commissioning board, late last year, seemed to signal that […]