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Slides from the Transforming Healthcare Together Conference 2019

October 2019

Transforming healthcare together

Speakers and workshop descriptions

Welcome 

Workshop slides: 

Getting started with collaboration

Understanding health systems and structures 

Creating a healthy, inclusive and compassionate culture in the NHS workforce

Working together to improve health and care outcomes: preventative action and end of life care

 

Closing plenary

 

Closing remarks from Ben Cairns, IVAR: 

 

What privilege it was to hear such amazing stories of transformation, all characterised by courage and determination and generosity of spirit. Five things stand out.

 

1. ‘We need to think about a life, not a service’. The importance of taking a person-centred approach to the design, delivery and commissioning of health and care is no longer disputed. Nor are the implications: we all – indviduals, organisations, systems – need to change.
2. But change is difficult. It involves loss. It means moving beyond our comfort zones and out of our echo chambers. Above all, it requires experimentation and risk.
3. And the systems that we live and operate in force us to be risk-averse; this allows us to be resistant.
4. But there are green shoots. Pockets of innovation, driven by ambition, fuelled by champions. Exemplars of what is possible when people step outside of the normal, when they reach out and connect, forming unlikely alliance. These green shoots – catalysts of change – need nurturing and tending, or they will wither. Each shoot will require different feed; they need bespoke care.
5. There is, though, no magic fertiliser for these green shoots. No silver bullet to ensure or guarantee that people will act differently, that will enable them to work across sectors and cultures. There are, however, some key ingredients that will enable partnerships to be productive and meaningful:
   
   

• Recognising the emotions of collaboration (being attentive to the feelings involved in ‘stepping outside and beyond’)
• Changing the conversation (being imaginative and creative about where and how and with whom it takes place)
• Learning in a friendly and enjoyable way (recognising that experimental work involves trial and error and adjustment)
• Making it real (recognising the ‘power of the good example’, including placing value on creating the conditions and foundations for change)
• Above all, being human.

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