What a modern Civil Service means to me:
Developing good, well thought through, deliverable policy and bringing in diverse perspectives. Since my work revolves around medical technology, I spend a lot of time engaging with external stakeholders such as industry professionals, clinical teams, and, most importantly, patients. This approach helps identify the real challenges in medical technology and uncover opportunities to make meaningful improvements.
Innovating for health and social care
In the Department for Health and Social Care we have to balance the potential opportunities for example, in adopting new technology or new medicines with the need to protect the patients. We can’t introduce innovation too quickly when the evidence base has not been fully developed. What’s becoming more evident is also the need for cross-government coordination, as we witness departments working more closely together to address these challenges.
One of the key drivers of change is the rapid pace of technological innovation. Take artificial intelligence (AI), for instance—five years ago, its current capabilities were unimaginable. Yet, here we are today, facing the challenge of integrating AI into a regulatory framework designed decades ago, in the 1990s, when no one could have anticipated such advancements. So, one of our primary concerns is how to apply these new technologies in a way that fits into outdated systems.
Another challenge is the immense pressure on healthcare, particularly post-COVID. The pandemic has left us with no choice but to reassess how we operate and find sustainable ways to deliver care. While the pressure is intense, it also acts as a catalyst for change, forcing us to consider new approaches.
This kind of pressure isn’t unique to healthcare, though. Across all public services, there's a growing need to innovate due to funding challenges and increased demand. But in a way, this push for change might just be what we need to create a more sustainable future for healthcare and beyond.
Don’t be afraid to fail - learn from it
One of the biggest obstacles to fostering innovation is the natural fear of failure, which can lead to hesitancy in thinking outside the box or suggesting new ideas. This fear of potential failure can create a culture of risk aversion, where individuals may make excuses like being too busy or lacking funding to avoid trying new approaches. But it’s important to remember that failure is a part of the learning process, and it is crucial to learn from these experiences.
By encouraging individuals to take risks, learn from failure, and providing guidance on how to approach innovation, organisations can create a culture that fosters creativity and progress.
My One Small Change for this year's One Big Thing will be..
Just a very simple thing, carving out some time once a month, where as a team we can focus on innovation and think about what are the key problems we're trying to solve here? Are there the right problems? It could be also inviting a colleague from within the department or externally to share their approach to innovation or what they've actually done, their experience of trying to implement something new and the lessons they've learned. So that's a small change that we're intending to do, something that will have a legacy. To make sure that we're making the most of our time exploring all the different opportunities.
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