NHS & Politics: You don't have to do 'The Hokey Cokey'

c/o Lunch with the FT - Amanda Pritchard
Life&Arts :: FTWeekend

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humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

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'Another question that she says will become increasingly pressing is what "the core business" of the health service should be at a time when parts of the state and voluntary sectors have been squeezed, leaving the NHS to pick up the slack. GPs tell her that between one in four and one in five of their patients come to them for help with non-health problems. A colleague in a mental health service recently told her it employs a housing team to support patients who couldn't otherwise be discharged from hospital. "You wouldn't say the core business of the health service is as a housing provider, but that's where we've ended up."'

She adds: "Think about how long it takes to train a doctor - you can't change your mind every five minutes. . . Think about what it requires to put new [digital] systems in place. It's not buying the tech - that's the easy bit. It's the implementation . . . and some consistency of leadership is really helpful."

'The NHS contributes between 10 and 20 per cent to people's health, she says - a figure I find startlingly low. "The rest is what we would recognise as the wider [social] determinants, including housing, and meaningful employment, but also smoking, diet, alcohol and lack of exercise. "I know there's an anxiety sometimes about being too nanny stateish about this . . But it is going to take really bold action to set the conditions for people to then live healthier lives."'

'The abolition of NHS England marks the end of an attempt to take the politics out of the health service by placing its day-to-day running in the hands of an arm's-length body. But Pritchard suggests that if this was the intent, it was probably never realistic. "It's too important to the country [and] we spend too much public money for ... the politics not to be part of it."'

My source:

Sarah Neville, Lunch with the FT Amanda Pritchard, Life&Arts, FTWeekend, 26-27 April, 2025, p.3.

Previously: 'Nye' : 'SOCIO-technical' : 'housing'

Nye | Full Show | Free (until 11th Nov) | National Theatre @home

Further to a post earlier this year regarding a play - 

Dramatherapy iii - A Specification for Care: Nye

- the play Nye is available to watch for free UNTIL 11th NOV 

on the National Theatre's YouTube channel (with Michael Sheen as Nye Bevan)

https://youtu.be/hpN--d5bXSY?si=yHiiXn1ZhN2_NDnP


My source: Politics of Health Group Mail List Messages

Visit the PoHG website for lots of interesting links and publications: http://www.pohg.org.uk/

Visit PoHG on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/282761111845400

Follow us on Twitter: @pohguk

I walked by the NT this afternoon on the way to Bankside Gallery.

Books: NHS 75

INDIVIDUAL

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     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

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GROUP

Our Stories: 75 Years of the NHS from the People Who Built It, Lived It and Love It
https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsbirthday/events-and-news/new-book-celebrates-nhs-staff-at-75/

Fighting for Life - The Twelve Battles that Made Our NHS, and the Struggle for Its Future
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321469/fighting-for-life-by-hardman-isabel/9780241504345

Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for Society and the Public Good: Technologies, Applications, and Governance

Dear CHAIN member,

CHAIN member Laura Brookes would like to draw your attention to the following free event.
Please pass on as appropriate. Thank you.

Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for Society and the Public Good:

Technologies, Applications, and Governance

2nd May 2023 - 3rd May 2023
Wivenhoe House Hotel

University of Essex, Park Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ

Book your tickets now

Join us as we bring together the brightest minds in data science and AI to showcase the power of data in action for public good and business applications.

Two days of fascinating talks at the prestigious Wivenhoe House Hotel will include interactive workshops, case study presentations to share best practice and an opportunity to form new partnerships across academia, the public sector and industry for more high-impact projects moving forward.

This workshop aims to explore the development and deployment of AI and data science methods in government and the wider public sector, but also businesses and charities. This includes the use of such methods to support the development and implementation of policy and delivering improved services to citizens at the regional and national level, whilst we simultaneously tackle global challenges and the delivery of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This workshop is for those inspired to make a difference and for those ready to embrace the revolutionising potential of data science and AI to improve society for all. A cross/interdisciplinary workshop, this event is aimed at researchers, policymakers, practitioners and professionals already working in or interested in exploring this area.

Further information

Complimentary refreshments will be available on both workshop days including a networking lunch.

Guests are welcome to use the free onsite parking for the workshop. Delegates are also eligible for discounts on accommodation at the Wivenhoe House Hotel should they wish to stay overnight. To receive your discount code please contact me directly.

Further information about the event and full agenda can be found on Eventbrite:

https://AIandDataScienceforPublicGood.eventbrite.co.uk

We hope you can join us for this exciting workshop. Please feel free to contact if you wish to discuss any aspect further.

Equally, you are welcome to share this invitation with colleagues and those within your network. ‘

Laura Brookes

Outreach and Publicity Officer
ESRC Business and Local Government Data Research Centre
. . .

Regards,

Wendy Zhou
CHAIN Manager
[ I did attend, and spent the 1st May in Cambridge. PJ ].

ICT and Brexit Change Survey – Extended deadline

Date:    Fri, 10 Mar 2023 09:16:49 +0000

From:    e.lomas AT UCL.AC.UK

Subject: ICT and Brexit change survey – extended deadline

Apologies for cross posting

We have been asked to extend this survey (https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=80453) for a further month in line with the time previous surveys ran. It will therefore close on Tuesday 11th April straight after Easter. This is because a lot of people are part way through and in addition a number of people had not seen the save button which appears at the bottom of each survey page. We would further note that the survey is intended to be neither remain or leave in its questioning – both sides have queried this. We are keen to understand perspectives of the ICT/information sectors following Brexit. We appreciate everyone’s time and perspectives on this. Below is the original text when posted with an update on timeframes…

Brexit has been a significant change for the UK and EU, including in the contexts of  the ICT sector and those who manage information, whether in the public or private sectors. At the three-year departure point we are seeking the views of information professionals on the shifting opportunities and threats for the ICT/information sector in the light of Brexit. Whilst Brexit was a UK decision, it has had potentially global ramifications and therefore we are looking to draw in perspectives from across the globe. We understand that there will be differing views both negative and positive – we want to hear all these perspectives.

We would be so grateful if you would respond to this survey at  - it will take 10-20 minutes to complete depending on if you just check the multiple-choice boxes or if you wish to share further written comments. All questions are optional. The survey is anonymous and no IP addresses are being collected. We know that you are busy and appreciate your time. The survey will close on 11th April 2023.

Please do forward on this email so that we can reach as many people as possible and tweet:

Please complete survey on information/ICT professionals’ views on Brexit and  change https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=80453 #Brexit #ICT

The results of this survey will be published in an open access form. Please note this survey follows four earlier surveys charting change through the Brexit process, the first immediately after the Referendum (written up at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0186452), one at a mid-point which was accompanied by workshops (written up at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227089) and the others from the transition points onwards. Whether or not you have completed any earlier surveys, we would appreciate your input now. This is likely to be the last survey we publish tracing the changes.

The research is a partnership between the iSchools at UCL (Dr Elizabeth Lomas) and Northumbria University (Emerita Professor Julie McLeod). The survey is being facilitated by Dr Elizabeth Lomas (mailto:e.lomas AT ucl.ac.uk).

Thank you for your help.

Elizabeth and Julie

Dr Elizabeth Lomas

University College London

Email: e.lomas AT ucl.ac.uk

Emerita Professor Julie McLeod

Northumbria University

Email: julie.mcleod AT northumbria.ac.uk

My source:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/FREEDOM-OF-INFORMATION
a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk

Chunks of Pi - the public expenditure round

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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	3.14159265359 NHS Funding "the next public expenditure round" Jeremy_Hunt 4% hmtreasury 2%

"... the settlement would need to "at least have a 3 in front of it" in order to be credible." p.2.

Sarah Neville and George Parker, Hunt's tax comments widen divisions over NHS funding. FT Weekend, 26-27 May, 2018. p.2.

Public Service(s) Ethos ii (notes)

Behind the post from 19 January 2018 are the 4Ps which can be related to Hodges' model.

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ethos: PURPOSE - Were possible the patient should have a purpose in relation to their condition, care, and recovery as far as possible. (How do we define proactive, preventive care...?) The nurse and colleagues will similarly be purposed to deliver person-centred care. The organisation can make a difference here - to individual practitioners, translating the organisational ethos through leadership to ensure individual's can be creative, safe, effective, innovate and find their role and purpose rewarding and (constantly) refreshing. Ethos here should align with personal ethics and values. Fire may be a mechanistic phenomena, but burnout here is best avoided.

SERVICES: process - In the past and today nursing has been and is defined and described in task-oriented terms. Hodges' model acknowledges this by differentiating between the activities that nurses carry out some are mechanistic and others are humanistic. Through a combination of  interventions nurses help patients regain their independence as far as possible.  Outsourcing and project management are also tied to process-laden perspectives, models and schema.

PUBLIC practice - Students are socialised into practice (yes, I had a bath).  Our practice is contextual, that is, it is situated. Interaction and the time nurses spend with patients and often carers places an emphasis on the exercise and maintained competence of interpersonal skills. Empathy, rapport, dignity and respect, universal positive regard ... they are exercised and practised here. If this is the domain were therapuetic relationships are forged, this is also the domain where contact-time counts. Count the beans as we may, the qualitiative relationships in the time spent between nurse-patient; lecturer-student; mentor-student; leader-team contact are definitive for the public and practitioner. Enjoy this, as the robot help is enabled with an ethos of its own?

ethos POLICY - The initial post was prompted by POLITICS.  Many nurses try to be apolitical, necessarily so at work. In a way, as you can see the HUMANISTIC-MECHANISTIC axis provides a dodge. The humanistic placement of practice in Hodges' model can account for the public service ethos of "Don't Panic Carry On". Although many try to circumvent the politics of healthcare, there is no escape from the effects of policy on the service. The UK and USA remain ideologically divergent in healthcare (and geologically) but the debate is now heard everywhere and when. It is infraglobal. It is heard everywhere and when. In the political domain there are obvious sensitivities associated with our use of maps and our place upon them. Addressing the ethos of healthcare at an individual and population level now calls for maps of a unique kind.

Public Service(s) Ethos

individual

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ethos	SERVICES
PUBLIC	ethos

Corbyn, J. "... public services ethos ..." heard this week on the news, 17 January, 2017.

ERCIM News No. 110 Special theme "Blockchain Engineering"

Dear ERCIM News Reader,

ERCIM News 110

ERCIM News No. 110 has just been published at https://ercim-news.ercim.eu/

In this issue: 

- Special Theme "Blockchain Engineering" coordinated by the guest editors Elli Andoulaki (IBM Research – Zurich), Matthias Jarke (RWTH Aachen University & Fraunhofer FIT) and Jean-Jacques Quisquater (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and research affiliate at MIT).

---

• Call for Proposals - Dagstuhl Seminars and Perspectives Workshops
• European Computer Science Summit 2017, Lisbon, 23-25 October

---

A public sector section includes - "How Distributed Ledgers Can Transform Healthcare Applications".

This issue is also available for download in pdf and ePUB

Thank you for your interest in ERCIM News. Feel free to forward this message to others who might be interested.

Next issues: 
No. 111, October  2017 - Special Theme: "Digital Humanities"
No. 112, January 2018 - Special Theme: "Quantum Computing"

Best regards,
Peter Kunz
ERCIM News editor in chief

Memo to America's Right

Please do not treat the UK's NHS as a
political football and yes I mean 'football'
(there's enough of that o'er here without
you sticking your ten cents worth in!).

Do not underestimate the -
knowledge, skills, creativity and dedication -
of NHS staff, or how it is perceived, valued and loved by the People.

Yes, the NHS is not without its faults (it is also true we are not all Angels), but amid the signs of wear, the aged splinters -

we do not forget the middle,
the constant called change,
or the challenges that beckon in the 21st century.

Image source: Allproducts.com

Additional links:

BBC News Bloggers debate British healthcare

New York Times 2008 Paying Patients Test British Health Care System