NHS campaigns on the “funny side” of incorrect usage of A&E

 

Spreading the Choose Well message

7^th November marks the beginning of National Ask Your Pharmacy Week. On that date, NHS North West will be launching a series of humourous viral videos featuring real-world examples of some of the most frivolous reasons why people visit A&E departments.

Focussing on patients in the waiting rooms, the viewer is unsure until the end of the films whether they’re in a vet’s surgery, X-factor audition, beauty salon – or a hospital.

Although these films are funny, there is a serious message behind them. We need people to make sure that they choose the right NHS services if they need treatment this winter, so that they can be seen quickly and efficiently, and so that A&E and 999 teams across the country are free to deal with life-threatening and serious conditions, such as heart attacks, strokes, serious accidents and breathing problems.

We want as many people as possible to watch these films and absorb their message, and we need your help.

If every member of NHS staff posts a link to these films to their social media profiles, they will reach an audience of tens of millions of people within just a few days, raising awareness nationwide of the impact of unnecessary A&E attendances, and highlighting the abilities of local pharmacists to provide advice and treatment for minor complaints.

In the last 12 months, unnecessary visits to A&E cost the NHS in the North West £21 million. Let’s make this winter different.

So please do your bit and post these videos to your professional and personal social media pages – we might just start a real NHS revolution, resulting in your A&E teams never again having to hold an emergency consultation for a broken nail!

Actors from stage and screen gave up their time free of charge to appear alongside NHS staff as characters including women waiting for treatment for hair-dye disasters and botched false nails, a pushy mum desperate for her son to be seen by senior doctors for his diarrhoea, and even a man hoping A&E staff will turn their hands to helping out his poorly dog!

The more serious message is that cases such as these put added pressure on already busy A&E and 999 teams. In the North West alone, more than 400,000 people who could have been treated and advised by their local pharmacist or GP, or could have looked after themselves at home, went to A&E departments in the last 12 months. 

Watch the videos now at http://bit.ly/rGJxLw

"Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? " (A Chorus Line)

I was reminded of this line in the title from A Chorus Line whilst reading a really useful article by Kimberley Ramirez (2011) on ePortfolios, and it got me thinking!

Sarah and I are about to start a series of Masterclass sessions with a small group of our undergraduate students to facilitate their use of online social media for professional development. Our intention is to help them create and maintain high diversity, low density networks for their own professional journey.

I have a long held belief, backed by my own experience of both lecturing and performing in amateur dramatic productions, that teaching and presenting is a performance in the theatrical sense. You have an audience that you interact with, you present a version of yourself that is carefully constructed and rehearsed as maybe professional/expert/mentor/peer dependent upon the context. Usually in the more traditional arena you know your audience and you have "real time" interaction with them.

Dixon (2007) identifies "digital performances" of everyday life and recognises that in the online world we have many forums where we perform - blogs, chatrooms, discussion forums, facebook and similar. He talks about honing a persona in these arenas through reflection, rehearsal and presentation of self. (In fact this blog post was "rehearsed" a number of time before it reflected what I wanted to give of myself to the wider audience).


So, in readiness for our masterclass I set myself some homework and  I decided that I would look at my own online presence, what were my digital performances? How have I constructed a professional persona on line (and is it successful?). Who is my intended and actual audience and how do I engage with them?

The first thing I realise is that I have multiple roles and potential audiences on line, so I googled myself! "Angela Hook" found me pretty quickly (in amongst the wire artist from Canada - hmm maybe she has a more interesting online identity than me?). On the first page were links to my Seek and LinkedIn profiles and my twitter and facebook places and one photo which wasn't too old and had been used as a professional image for a time (thank goodness).

"Angela Hook occupational therapist" gave a bit more. In addition to above it also identified groups and events such as OT4OT and the 24 hour virtual exchange (2010 and 2011), wikiflash, and the MSc Advanced OT programme launch. In this search this blog was there and also a link to a blog that I started and haven't returned to for some time so is pretty static, a number of articles I have co-authored and links to presentations at conferences and on slideshare. What was of some concern is that my full profile is on a site that I know I haven't joined and seems to have been automatically converted my LinkedIn profile to a french site - need to do some more checking of that!!
Finally, on page 3 of this search was a link to my eportfolio.

All  have been developed and crafted with the intention of demonstrating a person with a professional (but human) image. My intention is to show that I :
a) am continually developing and learning
b) have some knowledge and expertise in my chosen field of occupational therapy
c) have some knowledge and expertise in my professional interests including the use of online technology for professional development
d) am open to discussion and debate
e) am interested in the work of others
f) that I am a team player and a collaborator
g) that I don't always have to take myself too seriously!


I attempt to do this.......

On LinkedIn and Twitter I  talk about events that are happening in my professional life. Here on the blog I attempt to show a more human side occasionally offering reflections (such as this) and even a "Fairy Story" that I have written.

My facebook page is only open to "friends" - these may be "real world" or "virtual space" friends who have something in common with me (eg professional, hobbies, etc). My personal blog is available to the wider public but is rarely found (can you find it??) in which I share exploits of my life, my thoughts and aspirations on a more personal basis from time to time. I also have a personal website for one of my hobbies that I undertake.

And so we come to my eportfolio which I developed to demonstrate my own learning and development over time.  It is rather static and has not really engaged with people to date.


All this means that I have an intended audience for my work, my thoughts and my ideas. What once was kept between a few select friends and colleagues is now out there for anyone to read and engage with. Everything that I personally upload or that I know will be uploaded is intended to be read which means that not only do I consider what others may see and believe of me - but I also must connect to my sense of self. If I fragment too much then I would find it very hard to maintain multiple personas and I may not be a "believable" online presence. But I am not sure if my intended audience is being reached in all arenas. Facebook is pretty much instantaneous with comment and feedback fro selected friends. Occasional requests to add links on LinkedIn, comments on the blog and twitter followers demonstrate that some are finding me and may even be reading.


 The challenge for me and for our small group of students is to:
1) integrate folio thinking into the learning experience
2) find ways of engaging the intended audience so that we can have a living, multi-centric arena for development

But I am still unsure about whether my intended outcome is successful. I guess all this remains a learning curve but I would very much welcome your views on how you present yourself on line and how you can gauge your success -  (and yes I invite comment on how you think I present online too please).

Thanks for reading.

 "If nothing is deposited or created then the stage is empty" (Ramirez 2011)

24 hour Virtual Exchange for World OT Day 2011

Just a very quick reminder that we will be hosting the 2nd 24hour Virtual Exchange for World OT Day from  Salford. There will be much more detail to follow helping you to be involved and engage with any session you want - all for free. You can see these emerging by going to the OT4OT website 
You might be interested in a blog post we have written about last year by clicking the link here.

More details to follow - watch this space......

Mixing Leadership and Politics

Mixing Leadership and Politics.
On June 20th three students (Gill, Anna and Jane) and I embarked on something of an adventure! The trip had been planned as part of the leadership development initiatives I have been running over the past couple of years. My intention has been to bring leadership information and leadership development opportunities to the students to make leadership accessible and within every students grasp. For those students with leadership skills already developed and practised I hoped to widen their horizons within occupational therapy and to instil the idea that there should be no limit on their aspirations.
In arranging previous speakers I have been motivated by the impact that this has had and investigated the possibility of students visiting Westminster and COT headquarters in order to see where some of the decisions are made and hopefully identify a path for how they can become involved as individuals.
The visit was arranged for 20th and 21st of June which included an appointment with Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Julia Scott CEO of The College of Occupational Therapists (COT) and Genevieve Smyth, Professional Affairs Officer also at COT. The two days were non- stop moving from one appointment to another. Our first appointment was in the House of Commons with Andy Burnham. We enjoyed a 45 min chat over tea in the Pugin Rooms during which we asked a number of questions about leadership, how to engage in a ‘political’ world and it also offered the opportunity to raise particular issues relating to clients with whom the students have worked. This related to identifying a loop hole in the law in relation to equipment and adaptations and the difficulties of occupational deprivation for people with a refugee status. Our students used their time well and have identified ways to take these issues further.
On the 21st June we arrived early at Westminster and were able to observe part of the Health Select Committee meeting and then had a tour of the House of Commons and House of Lords from one of Andy Burnham’s staff. We were privileged alongside the normal tour areas to go across to Portcullis House and to see the parliamentary chapel and also the boiler room where suffragette Emily Davison hid during the 1911 census. It is fair to say that the whole experience was quite overwhelming due to the combination of the past history and living history all around you.
The last part of the day were meetings scheduled with Julia Scott and Genevieve Smyth. During an hour with Julia we discussed leadership styles, leadership opportunities and again the students used this time to gain Julia’s perspective on their areas of concern. Our time with Genevieve then added further depth to this information regarding how students can get involved in the decision making processes in COT and how to raise their leadership profile.
Fairly exhausted on our journey back we reflected on a unique couple of days which had given a clear insight into politics nationally and within our profession and how to use leadership skills effectively. Our thanks go to Andy Burnham and his staff, Julia Scott and Genevieve Smyth.