21 July 2015

Writing for the local newspapers!

13th July - 17th July 2015

While I only have an about five weeks remaining on placement, I was really keen to gain some experience with the Communications and Public Engagement Team before I leave the CCG. I worked relatively closey with the Team last week and attended various meetings. One meeting in particular, was regarding posters and leaflets which will be produced to to promote the CCG’s HealthVoice group, which meets every two months and provides a public view on the healthcare services in Eastern Cheshire.

The Team also asked me to write an article focusing on the subject of staying safe abroad, which will be published as part of the weekly ‘Health Matters’ column in the local newspapers. Writing the article was a great experience as I gained new knowledge about the importance of staying safe abroad, but it also challenged me to utilise my A-Level English skills and write an informative piece for a large audience; hopefully my English Teacher would be proud! You can view the article online by clicking here.
I was keen to gain experience in Communications and Public Engagement while still at the CCG, as I will be studying a marketing module when I return to University for my final year, so being exposed to how the Team communicates with the public and produces marketing material to promote the organisation has been really interesting to be involved in.

This week, I have also been teaching a few different people how to set up and use a blog! A Community Matron from Bollington asked if I would help set up her blogging profile, in order for her to document to colleagues the progression of integrated care in Eastern Cheshire. I also helped our new placement student; Amy (Transformation Programme Support Officer) set up a blog and provided her with my top tips when producing a blog! Although I am no blog expert, it was great to provide knowledge and support to colleagues wishing to enter the blogging world!

10 July 2015

Experience in HR!

6th July – 10th July 2015

We have been recruiting for a Quality & Performance Analyst at CCG and I was given the opportunity to gain some more experience in the recruitment field of business! I have been involved in the shortlisting of applications and I was lucky enough to sit on the panel when we interviewed candidates on Monday. It was great to gain some practical HR (Human Resource) experience because I have chosen to study Strategic Human Resource Management when I return to university in September, so I am trying to get as much exposure to the recruitment process in the NHS as possible. It was also really interesting to gain more of an idea of what recruiters are looking for and identify what I must include on my CV when applying for graduate positions. I have learnt just how important work experience is, along with a degree and good qualifications. Work experience is extremely important when recruiting and I am sure my twelve month placement at the CCG will be of benefit when applying for graduate positions in the future.

I have also attended numerous meetings and events this week. An interesting event in particular, was held at the Town Hall on Wednesday, which invited all GPs and Practice Managers to discuss the new Contract that will be used in Primary Care. Although, I have been working on Contracts for Secondary Care Providers, such as CWP (Cheshire & Wirral Partnership) I was made aware that the structure of Primary Care Contracts are slightly different, which is something I am interested in finding a bit more about before I finish my placement.

Finally, to round off the week nicely, I was given the opportunity to present the new Quality & Performance section on the CCG’s website to members of the Clinical Quality & Performance Committee, where I gave members an update on the progress of the new section and the elements that are included. It also was great to hear members’ thoughts, in terms of what may need to be added to the new section.
You can visit our new page by clicking on the following link; https://www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk/Our-Performance/

3 July 2015

Showcasing our Performance!

29th June - 3rd July 2015

Over the past few weeks, myself and a member of the Communications Team have been working with the CSU (Commissioning Support Unit) to create a new Quality & Performance section on the CCG’s website, where we are able to share with the public our performance dashboards and penalties we apply to Providers who have not met our performance targets.

We have produced an initial background page which provides the visitor with an overall summary of how we measure quality and performance at the CCG and where the data is sourced from. The visitor is also able to select a particular performance dashboard from the drop-down box, which provides a list of months that the visitor can choose from.

I have now been granted access to edit the Performance page and upload documents, which is another skill to add to my list! You can view our new Performance page by clicking on the following link; https://www.easterncheshireccg.nhs.uk/Our-Performance/

On Friday, I attended my last Locality meeting, before I leave in August. The meetings are held on a bi-monthly basis and invite colleagues from Primary Care; GPs and Practice Managers and allows new services to be presented and questions/concerns to be answered. The CCG facilitates the meeting and we discuss current work streams and projects. The meeting on Friday involved a number of presentations from colleagues at the council and social care, providing us with insightful information of services that have recently been formed. These services have been created to provide patients within the East Cheshire area with support for different long-term conditions; we had presentations from services supporting Dementia, patient’s wellbeing and helping to return to work after an illness.