I do think dealing with ‘animate subjects’ rather than inanimate objects odes make a difference. First, because the subject has preferences, values, experiences, knowledge and their own goals and interests which will shape how care and healthcare services should be delivered to them (the differences may be more exaggerated in some areas of care…Read more

Thanks for this stimulating comment Laura 🙂

You’re also absolutely right that there are some big obstructions to certain kinds of cooperation–the COP climate summits and their consistently underwhelming negotiations and declarations are a great example, and organisational failures in the NHS and other social institutions can reflect failures…Read more

Great to read about the story and impact of COPE, Hilda — really disappointing that you lost your NHS funding… hopefully people are still finding ways to access your care when they need it even if it isn’t an official NHS procurement option! Very dispiriting how bureaucratic procedures can get in the way of health and care

Yes that makes lots of sense and I think connects to what I’m saying about too. There are much bigger structural and institutional issues which affect how staff are enabled to deliver healthcare and how it’s experienced by patients. But often these are sidelined in conversations about improvement which focus on small changes/projects which might…Read more

I guess I was thinking about a number of things which might affect the ability of healthcare professionals to act on their aspirations to make things better:
– some more structural, e.g. if there are workforce shortages, staff may not have much time to reflect on and think about improving their ways of working, because they are fighting fires t…Read more

Hi Laura, thanks for joining our SIG! I appreciate the focus in your comment on how staff can be supported by managers, leaders, and ethical codes. There can often be a great deal of emphasis placed on the intentions and attitudes of individual staff when characterising professional ethics, but having appropriate institutional support and…Read more

Terry Pratchett always makes me chuckle 🙂

I’ve *finally* got round to reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which has been on my shelf for years. Slowly working my way through it as bedtime reading. Its just brilliant… Every time I open it I am whisked away to Tudor England. Pure escapism!

Thanks Tom for the stimulating thought!

Rollo, I think what you say is important. Here’s a related thought: providing good healthcare requires a high level of responsiveness to emerging situations that are often unanticipated in their detail. Because of this, there may be a limitation to how far work-as-done can ever reflect work-as-imagined–in…Read more