As part of our day in a life series exploring the different team roles here at ICHP, Innovation Delivery Lead, Craig Brown shares his day with us.
I first open my eyes…
At 6:00 but get out of bed by 6:30 after I’ve checked my emails and BBC news app. I sign up to the Roy Lilly blog which usually lands in my email around 7am and always has stimulating and innovative perspectives on the NHS.
Some of the projects I’m working on have clinicians embedded in the heart of the work, so they often only reply to any emails late at night, so it gives me a chance to ensure I am up to speed with any actions or concerns as a I start my day.
I’m responsible for…
Managing my own time is one of the great aspects of work in ICHP, so I am responsible for ensuring I am delivering what the various projects require and managing those relationships. I line manage and support other team members, which provides me with an opportunity to coach and mentor staff, skills that I can draw on from my previous roles.
My path took me…
Through a clinical route, I was an expert clinician for many years, working as a Physiotherapist in Critical Care at the end of my clinical life and I am still involved heavily with the Intensive Care Society (ICS). I am now the first non-medic ICS Executive in over 40 years, as I act as the Treasurer for this Charity and I’m leading on a workforce development project that will have national implications.
This desire to influence and transform services is what drew me to ICHP as my curiosity has always been to improve services. Right from the beginning as a new qualified Physiotherapist I was interested in improving care for patients and this desire to work with systems to create joint visions and commitment to change has always been part of my make-up.
My daily calendars reminders look like…
The usual combination of meetings and emails, however we also have a culture of having time to think and reflect. The challenges we work on are no different to the challenges faced by clinicians and managers across the NHS so it’s important to us that we approach the issues thoughtfully and sensitively as there is a lot of expertise already across NW London. Often the value we bring is through facilitating conversations and supporting the expertise to share insights and work together.
My most memorable work moment…
Working with one of our Providers in delivering a solution to some of their data visualisation that can be scaled across the NHS Digital platform.
My biggest groan about my job is…
The speed at which things happen. There can be huge delays in decisions, so we can be in a holding phase on projects for quite some time.
My best part of my job…
The people I work with. My ‘imposter syndrome’ still kicks in from time to time when you look around the office at the varied experience of talented people I work with , all of whom are very good at what they do, but all with the same ambition of working to improve services in the NHS. I feel very lucky.
