Well, that was a whirlwind!
After 18-months at NHSX, my 6-month temporary secondment has reached its end.
It's always hard when a job finishes. The secondment was twice extended, and that let me carry on defining open technology standards for the NHS. Now it is over and I'm a bit sad. The pandemic seems to heighten all emotions, doesn't it?
I'm luckier than most. I'm still employed. The whole point of a secondment is a short-term loan to share skills and experiences. I'm returning to my home department - GDS. So I'm still fighting the good fight on open technology.
Change, however difficult, is necessary. The people you want to kick-start an organisation are not necessarily those you need to sustain an organisation. Teams need to grow and evolve - as do I.
In my head, I know it's right for me to move on. I'm not sure that makes it easier.
The team back in 'X are fantastic and are doing great things. I hope that I've left a little bit of legacy there. And I can't wait to see what they achieve next.
For now, as ever, onwards and upwards!
A few highlights, in Tweet form.
Days like this, I bloody love my job with @NHSX!
Open Standards ✅
Open Source ✅
Accessibility ✅
I'm determined to get the future pretty evenly distributed.
thehtn.co.uk/2019/04/04/nhs… pic.x.com/fzf0zpsed6
Great @NHSX away day on values and behaviours.. how we support the diversity of citizens needs and the power of diversity of our teams..
Go @NHSX , go diversity, go beards! @matthewsgould @MattHancock @NHSCCIO @krfarrington @edent @iainoneil @hadleybeeman @NHSEngland @NHS_RobW pic.x.com/frdfb5qd83
The future is here, if it’s not open we don’t want it......@NHSCCIO @nhscio @NHSX @MattStibbs @edent #Interoperability #NHSX #DUEC2019 pic.x.com/5u2wjz6vum
'It's absolutely about users first'
@edent on designing with the end user in mind to enable the smooth adoption of new NHS #digital tools
#KFdigital19 pic.x.com/wxt4avp5sf
One of the many reasons I love working with the @NHSX team.
gov.uk/government/spe…
#MakeThingsOpen pic.x.com/hgtmxappcn
If you're at #cynam come say hi to @hadleybeeman & @edent. They're talking about CYBER! pic.x.com/oxgt84om3n
Great to see the launch of @nhsx and the diversity of beards, females and 'matts' in the selfie 🤗🤗 @edent @krfarrington @matthewsgould @MattHancock
All the best.......
At the launch of @NHSX - on a mission to bring first rate technology into the NHS to save staff time and save patients’ lives pic.x.com/njtncyrmij
Working at @NHSX is never dull. Spent an interesting morning with CyberDyne Systems(!) talking about medical robots.
👩⚕️🤖!
どうもありがとうございました。 pic.x.com/jqqmsebbvq
Interesting talk by @edent from @NHSX on new 3Os for data.
1. Open standards.
2. Open data (but not confidential data)
3. Open source to speedup innovation.
#HETT19 @HETTShow #digitalhealth pic.x.com/tviyvf2wxc
Replying to @GaryMcAllister@GaryMcAllister @NHSX I think they’ve missed a trick by not providing standards 😕
When I say NHSX, you go 🙅 !
#ukgc20 pic.x.com/7c6fmtdh6r
"Which part of “Make things open, it makes things better” did you not understand?"
Intimidating photo by @aShropLad flic.kr/p/2ii92G7
#ukgc20 pic.x.com/z4vpmx1kog
Replying to @edentThe Demo works! Clip this to your laptop / school book. It uses ultrasonics to tell if you're too close (poor posture), lux to see if the lights are too dim (bad for eyes), and a timer (take a break) - with an LCD display for info.
Impressive hack! pic.x.com/vt2qou54na
Replying to @edentWinner of the #NHSX award is…
PharmaSafe!
Uses image recognition to see what drug you've been prescribed.
Then scrapes the BNF to see adverse interactions. (No API, booo!)
Then displays it on the phone.
Brilliant mix of technologies & an excellent demo. pic.x.com/nwpaciasgg
Today we recognise @openuk_uk Director @edent who heads up #opentechnology @NHSX and is one of our UK NHS Heroes linkedin.com/pulse/nhsx-tas… pic.x.com/bcmsxclyww
📣New tech blog 📣
The code behind the NHS Covid-19 App.
We have Open Sourced the code behind the new NHS COVID-19 app. Our Head of Open Tech @edent discusses the open source offer behind the beta version of the app.
nhsx.nhs.uk/blogs/code-beh… pic.x.com/5guum2uzux
Hey gang,
We've now published the *full* git commit history for the NHSX Isle of Wight beta apps.
🤖 github.com/nhsx/COVID-19-…
🍏 github.com/nhsx/COVID-19-…
Took a bit longer than expected, but glad we got there. Much more to come, I hope. pic.x.com/txivthbetp
Matt Jukes said on twitter.com:
Great shift mate 🙂 Back into the frying pan now!
Giuseppe Sollazzo said on twitter.com:
great to have you back to central gov, sort of 🙂
Jeremy Gould said on twitter.com:
Good to have you back!
Claire Sutton 💙💚💁🏼👜👩🏼💻👸🏼 said on twitter.com:
you'll be missed!
Household Name Like Steve said on twitter.com:
Forgot you'd be coming back! 🙌
Jez Nicholson said on twitter.com:
lucky for you it was a nice quiet period...umm...oh... 😉
Edafe Onerhime (FRSA) said on twitter.com:
Welcome back to central government. It’s been so enlightening following your work at NHS X, excited to see what you do next. I love how you change the world by being yourself 😊
andypiper said on twitter.com:
Nicely illustrated, with Tweets! Although, committing the faux pas of crossing Dr Who image with a Star Trek episode title...
Mark O'Neill said on twitter.com:
Onwards! 🙂
Infospectives said on twitter.com:
I only know you via here and folk who know you talking to me about you and it has been a lesson in overcoming criticism (largely born from others’ fear and uncertainty) through integrity. Enjoy the absolutely well earned break.
Jess Morley said on twitter.com:
X will miss you I'm sure and we'll miss you being in there championing the importance of all things open 🙂
Jude Gibbons said on twitter.com:
You picked an... interesting period for your secondment! Something for the memoirs...
Kelvin Zhang said on twitter.com:
Congrats! Certainly one heck of an interesting time to hold the position, to say the least. Can't wait to see what's in store for the future. (:
Rainey 👩🏻🎓She/Her said on twitter.com:
Well done mate! Hopefully they'll carry on the transparency.