Let’s talk Kintsugi.
The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery.
Translated means ‘golden joinery’.
If somebody drops a ceramic, they don’t reach for the super-glue. Try to hide the repair. They use a special tree-sap. Whilst it’s wet, they sprinkle the join with gold dust. It features the repair, and says…
… this is a treasured item, we had an accident, but because we care, we’ve lovingly repaired it, added to its delight with a precious metal. A symbol of caring.
Why Kintsugi?
Because it is what’s needed for the NHS.
It’s been dropped.
Dropped by the outgoing chair of NHS England. A Tory peer, unable to challenge the politics. Take them on over issues that matter most. Forgot that NHSE is an arms-length body… not an arms around yer buddy.
The result? As I reported; last week’s, Board meeting was a love fest with fairy tales.
An NHS board meeting with no report from the Medical Director? Yer ‘avin a larf.
The Board of comfortable executives, disdainful and blatantly texting insouciant, nonchalant paying no attention, whilst the rest of the NHS works ’till it drops.
Boss of HEE with nothing to say on workforce.
The leader of innovation, digital and what-not, hysterically enthusiastic about twenty-year-old technology.
And, when the bean-counter drops the news of a £500m cut in funding… no one asks… ‘what impact will this have?’
The incoming chair, Richard Meddings, knows nothing about the NHS but I pray to Saint Homobonus, that he can run a board…
… and ‘do’ Kintsugi.
It’s not his job to hide a dysfunctional board. Nor cover-up for his political predecessor.
It is his job to repair the Board, Kintsugi style, so we can see what he’s fixed. Repaired with love and respect.
He has 12 things to do.
1 Stop the non-sense; ‘I’m too rich and clever to take my salary as a chair.’ No one’s impressed, Richard.
It’s flash. The NHS ain’t flash. Take it, give it away, quietly, if you want to but I want you paid and obligated to the taxpayers, to do a proper job. We don’t want a dilettante.
2 Tell us the three things you believe in. Your red lines, that guides your thinking and actions every day. Who are you? Why should we trust you? What are you trying to do?
3 Meet in public, monthly. You have to win back confidence and relevance. Sixty-day intervals at a time of crisis (yes it is) says you don’t care and you can’t be on top of things.
4 Get frontline people in the forefront of your mind. Run Board meetings like the most exhausted nurse, the most harried doctor and the most knackered porter is in the front row.
What are you doing to make the NHS safer, quicker and more cost-effective… today… right now, for them?
5 Put the recovery programme front-n-centre. It’s the one thing the public are interested in. The workforce are busting a gut to deliver.
Also, the single most important thing for BoJo’s political survival. It gives you leverage, use it.
6 Insist on a weekly sit-rep on staffing and a detailed Board report. Find out why people are leaving, mandate exit interviews, see what you can fix.
Don’t be fobbed off by claims we can keep going with overseas recruitment. We can’t. It is an international market. Terms conditions and pay, here, don’t compare well, neither does the weather…
7 It’s obvious the Board does not understand ‘the money’. Few people do. Get them up to speed so they understand the impact of dropping £500m… tutorials yer-granny would get… do it.
8 Succession planning. You have some obvious deadwood. Arrogance to sort out. Some on the edge of retirement.
Start succession planning, now. Always hire people better than you.
9 Covid is not over. It has orphaned children and widowed some of the men and women who work for your NHS.
Insist on daily updates so you can act early. Do what’s right. Get Board advice from independent public health.
What are you going to do? It’s getting worse.
10 Data and technology won’t save the NHS and usually ends up in an expensive mess. Done well, it can help. De-clutter the programmes. Focus on three things, figure out what they are and deliver them.
11 Find a way of spotting and sharing best practice. It is the only way to improve.
12 Get out more. Particularly, visit social care front line.
The Board is a complacent love-fest. That must stop. Try KISSing instead.
Kintsugi Is Simple, Stupid….
