An article in last week's Evening Standard (19 January by Nicholas Cecil) caught my eye. It quoted the Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie, who sits on the Commons health committee saying: 'The NHS is not equipped to deliver care in the 21st century and is being "destroyed" because people are too scared to admit "the emperor has no clothes...the NHS is at the heart of our sacred taboos."'
The NHS is perhaps the most emotive of public services, yet we need to recognise that in order to protect it and ensure that it is ‘fit for purpose' for an ever changing demographic, we must also feel free to question how it is run.
Surely, this is how all good organisations (private, public and third sector) adapt, change and survive?
The need to join up service delivery and deliver more for less, which spans all public sector services will continue to be a challenge for us all, and rightly so. It will never go away - in fact we shouldn't let it go away - we all need to strive to make the right efficiencies so front line services can be the best they can be.
There are a number of stories that demonstrate the lack of joined up thinking that occurs frequently through the public sector, where seemingly small cost savings are made to the detriment of much larger ones.
One example is when local authority budget cuts lead to the £12 pair of non-slip slippers previously given to elderly to prevent falls is cut, yet when an elderly member of society breaks a hip the NHS incurs a £12k cost for a hip replacement.
Or the local authority and the government agency in offices next to each other in a county town - both two thirds full, the district nurses who have to go and collect their supplies and can't log on to their IT network in the field.
An absurd lack of efficiency when you consider that as consumers we can organise our weekly groceries from a smartphone, view our bank details and pay a bill in a matter of minutes.
What we need is communication, between the departments and agencies that so frequently cite the importance of transparency.
An Artelia project, Bletchley Park, often comes to my mind when I think about this topic, as it provides the stark contrast required to make the point. In a world without the plethora of communication tools we now have at our disposal, initially secrecy was key. This incredible group of people eventually joined all their ideas and work together and literally saved lives - the incentive of saving lives and shortening the war - their extraordinary catalyst?
So where is our catalyst? Our catalyst to join up all of our public services and make those back of house efficiency gains that will see front line service be the best they can be?
My view - we will all be waiting a long time for someone to come along and do it for us. So, let's do it ourselves. How about we each, in our own sphere, thing about being a catalyst - thinking beyond our own sphere, beyond our own project, poking our nose in, finding out, suggesting, coercing and making things happen - and not taking no for an answer. For example - why can't we have multi-user multi-agency hubs in each town that any public sector service can use?
A common success theme I have noticed through the years is that at the centre of success there is often just one committed and determined individual with a vision. So, let's each be that person. Let's each look that bit further, let's each join some things up and make a difference in supporting the services that we deliver to those who need them.
So, come on - what have we got to lose? Let's be our own catalysts and really achieve something together.
Ian Bailey is a director at Artelia Ltd
