Angela Wright is the programme manager for Team Up Derbyshire, responsible for managing all aspects of the programme, and also coordinates the ‘place’ agenda for Derby and Derbyshire.
How did your career take you to Team Up Derbyshire?
My background is in finance, I'm a qualified accountant, having been on the NHS Finance Management Training Scheme. I've worked in finance and commissioning for a number of years and I remember when as an acting director of finance, sitting on the board and being more interested in the rest of the agenda than the financial report; then based in South Yorkshire in the 2008 recession I was involved as the NHS rep in working with people from different organisations acting together for the benefit of the local population, in this case, supporting people impacted by the recession. I then went on a course run by Common Purpose in leading across boundaries and that was my epiphany moment – that we should be working in organisations, across organisational boundaries, to support local communities. After a career break while I had my children, I came back into the NHS and took on the ‘place’ role and the Team Up Derbyshire role. I’d had my eye out for such a role for a while since I had my ‘epiphany’ and was really happy to be appointed. I’d always found working in the NHS very fulfilling, I had the knowledge and expertise, and was keen to use that in Derbyshire, my local area, which was a real motivation.
How would you describe what Team Up Derbyshire is?
We’re trying to improve the health of housebound people, so they can get the support they need early enough, to keep them healthy and well, to retain their independence, and avoid needing to go into hospital for their care, wherever possible. The NHS might talk about this in terms of ‘improving health outcomes’ but what we’re basically trying to do is improve people’s quality of life. This approach is based on the need for colleagues to work across organisations. We can see that in some cases the care that has been provided is disconnected between organisations and we want to join things up better.
It is early days for Team Up Derbyshire, but do you think there is any misunderstanding about what it means for staff?
Some staff might be thinking: ‘am I going to be asked to move organisation?’ or ‘am I going to be asked to change my role?’ and the answer is, in summary, ‘no’. What we’re planning to do is to improve people’s working environment. At the moment, some staff might find themselves working in a vacuum, within just their organisation, but we want to introduce a team approach, so they can increase their ability to provide better quality care and support.
Closer integration of care has been taking place for a while, locally and nationally – how will Team Up Derbyshire take this further?
In Derbyshire we have been co-ordinating care between staff in different organisations, and ‘place’ has helped a lot with that. Each organisation has its own way of doing things, which can sometimes put up barriers, so we’re trying to create the conditions in which staff can work in a more flexible way, as one integrated team. They will be brought together under the same clinical leadership and managerial leadership at a local level, regardless of who employs them, with one set of procedures, rather than everyone doing their own thing in their own organisation.
Where would you say that Team Up Derbyshire is already working well?
I would say it is working well in the places where conversations are happening between teams, employed by different organisations, about how they can actively change the way they work and support the individual person in a different, more flexible way.
And what are some of the big challenges?
Ideally, we want to create a larger workforce in the community but a big challenge with this is being able to recruit enough staff to enable us to do this. Secondly, putting organisational barriers aside to work in an integrated way is really hard. We need to facilitate agreement between partners, put in contracts and supporting documentation, and encourage more flexible working. It requires a great deal of trust and understanding and all this does not happen overnight.
How will people receiving care notice the difference when the Team Up approach is fully operational?
I’m a little uncomfortable answering this question as I am not a clinician, however, what I would like to see is that there are fewer people going in to see a person but the people that do are able to support people in a greater number of ways. It then becomes less onerous for the individual having to contact a number of different organisations in order to resolve the different issues that they have. If it was me that was housebound, I’d just like to know that there were one or two numbers I could call and they would be able to sort out a range of issues for me, from health to heating and housing adaptations.
What is it like doing so much Team Up work on (Microsoft) Teams nowadays?
It’s good in that some people are more accessible than they were previously. It's a great leveller, I think, but I really miss the face-to-face contact with my own team, and with the other people I work with. I miss the informal exchange of information and the energy we get from other people. I've also invested in an electronic desk that can go up and down, so I can stand up during the working day because you can find you’re not moving for five or six hours a day.
Away from work
Favourites
· Holiday destination: The South-West coast of England
· Film: Star Wars
· Book: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
· Music: Anything 80s
· Sport: I love all sports, and love the Olympics. I keep fit through ballet.