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Women into leadership

For interim management, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year for women in leadership.

Advent Countdown 2022

Practicus Healthcare team is counting down to Christmas with an Advent Calendar, highlighting innovations and news from the past year that may not have got the attention we feel it

Executive interim management

Executive Interim Management

What is executive interim management? How does it differ from vanilla interim management, and how does it compare with Executive Search?

Interim manager meaning

Interim Manager Meaning

Interim manager meaning? As with so many things, the meaning is heavily dependent on the context. But in all cases, ‘interim manager’ means a person charged with conducting…

Interim Manager ROI

ROI of an interim manager

How do you measure the ROI? If you want to bring it down to ‘brass tacks’, the ROI of an interim manager is easier to calculate than it is for many permanent positions.

Practicus Health & Social Care Team

Introducing our Health and Social Care Team

By Practicus – 30th August 2022 Our Health and Social Care team has grown so we can help more of our clients get access to our exceptional network of talented interims

what benefits interim manager

What benefits: interim manager?

Interim managers provide a unique set of benefits and advantages due to their individual experience and expertise and the nature of the contracting method.

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What is an interim manager role?

What is an interim manager role? With so much variety in the work of interim’s and their uses by clients, we look at defining the role they play in the modern workplace.

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What is an interim manager?

What is an interim manager? It seems to be one of the most misunderstood terms in the hiring world. It involves some of the most senior, trusted and capable talent available. Yet many HR and Procurement functions have a habit of treating it like they do unskilled temporary recruitment.

diverse NHS staff

Investing in the NHS Workforce?

The need for workforce action could not be more acute. This includes the need to transform the way the NHS delivers patient care, empowers its people and cares for their wellbeing.

Practicus 57th – Best Workplaces Awards 2022

By Practicus 17th May 2022. Practicus is pleased to announce that we have been recognised at the Best Workplaces Awards 2022. Officially Practicus is now the 57th best small workplace in

PMO Questions answered

‘Stupid’ PMO questions and their answers

We’ve attempted to climb the endless mountain of Google’s PMO questions to bring you the very peak of stupid when it comes to PMO queries. And then, rather foolishly, we’ve attempted to answer them.

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Why PMO as a Service?

The most common reason why PMO as a Service is chosen is because the existing PMO has lost its way or does not yet exist. But there are plenty of other reasons too.

ROI in Digital Transformation

ROI IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

This story charts the experience of how an Interim helped an independent healthcare provider adopt a digital transformation programme to propel its long-term growth strategy.

International Women's Day (IWR)

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Each year, Practicus, like many other organisations and people around the world celebrates March 8th as International Women’s Day (IWD), but how did this commemoration come about and why on this particular day?

Smiling children-health inequality

Making Data Count to Tackle Health Inequalities

Addressing health inequalities is again becoming a high-priority challenge at national level – and as a society, the growing divergence in rich-poor life expectancy should arguably concern us all.

Patient Safety reporting

Patient Safety Incident Response

PSIRF is a new system for investigating or reviewing patient safety incidents, to improve patient safety and develop a. culture of learning

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HSJ Partnership Awards 2022 – Highly Commended

Practicus is delighted to announce that its “Covid-19 Vaccine Programme – Estates, Equipment, Consumables & Logistics (EECL) Workstream” has been shortlisted for Best Estates Optimisation Project at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2022.

agile transformation guide

Agile Transformation

You have heard of agile project management and software development. But have you heard of agile transformation? An executive overview of agile transformation with real-world examples by Practicus community member, Tim Lake.

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Interim Management – Client

Finding the right interim manager for your business needs is critical. To ensure you can effectively identify and qualify the right calibre of individual, you should build a business case with clear objectives and deliverables.

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Interim Management – Candidate

There are lots of benefits to working as an Interim, but despite all of the positives, by their nature short-term roles can also be very challenging. Below are some of the comments reported from our own interims.

Practicsu NHS Vaccine Rollout Covid

NHS Vaccine Rollout Success

We are proud to have supported the NHS with key Interim Consultants with critical supply chain skills and project leadership experience. Here we take a look at some of the big challenges.

the case for remote working healthcare nhs

The Case for Remote Working in the NHS

Remote working provides flexible work arrangements for hired workers but also presents a set of challenges for employers, which can easily be managed with the right technology and the right organisational culture.

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Hybrid working: the Future of Work

You have heard of agile project management and software development. But have you heard of agile transformation? An executive overview of agile transformation with real-world examples by Practicus community member, Tim Lake.

Empowering Problem Solving in NHS

Serving the NHS with Interim Management

We have been working with the NHS for more than 15 years to deliver skilled and experienced Interims for leadership positions. Our experts help the NHS navigate change. We connect

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The Right ‘Hybrid’ Work-from-Home Model

It’s high up the agenda in nearly every Boardroom – what does return to work look like? The spectrum of strategies is well represented, from the ‘presenteeism’ of Goldman Sachs to the ‘WFH 4ever’ of Twitter.

6 Things your PM0 should do for you

6 THINGS YOUR PMO SHOULD DO FOR YOU

During the pandemic, some PMOs are thriving whilst others are exposing flaws and weaknesses. Here are the six things that separate them.

Evolution of the PMO history

The evolution of the PMO

The PMO at its conception had a very simple purpose, one that remains as true today as it did back then. Over the PMO’s history, has the world lost sight of it?

webinar you cannot manage change

WEBINAR: YOU CANNOT MANAGE CHANGE

This is the controversial conclusion reached by author Catherine Hayes in her recently released book, Transition Leadership, Navigating the Complexities of Change. For many in the world of Change and

interim mangement in a time of covid-19

Interim Management in a time of COVID-19

For many commentators COVID-19 has not changed the future, it has simply brought it forward. Surpassing trend predictions are remote working, online collaboration and process automation to name but a

systemic thinking transition from covid 19 to truly integrated care

From COVID-19 to truly integrated care

With collaboration between Healthcare systems in response to COVID-19 at an all-time high, we hosted a Webinar today to look at how the impetus for integrated change can be sustained and enhanced as we imagine the future of healthcare in the UK.

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ASK THE COMMUNITY TESTIMONIAL: NHS

When Transformation Leader, Liz Eckert was grappling with the challenge on how to measure need, ahead of making recommendations on where to position urgent treatment services for a West Country

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Diversity and Inclusion: Practical lessons

How can you raise awareness of diversity equality and inclusion in your organsation? Full report on best practice and lessons learned from Practicus workshop event with HR leaders.

nhs conflicting standards

Conflicting Standards

As an operational leader in the NHS, I would want to change the number of opposing constitutional standards.

nhs good governance

Good Governance

It would be to make governance more consistent. To my mind, governance should be like a game of premier league football…

remove the political reigns nhs

Remove the Political Reigns

I’d love for the NHS to be removed from political change. I know this is a Nirvana-like state but we can all dream.

nhs embed collaboration

Embed Collaboration

It would be to ensure collaboration and cooperation are embedded into every aspect of the NHS. I have seen first-hand, the power that collaboration has in delivering sustainable high quality services.

nhs simplify before adding

Simplify Before Adding

It would be that out-of-hospital services, provided by a combination of acute hospitals, community health & social care organisations and the voluntary sector, are frequently disconnected.

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Art of the Possible

Whenever I support an organisation with the development of their savings programme…

the best hr system for 1000 employees

The best HR system for 1,000 employees?

Recently, one of our clients came to us with a question. They wanted to know what would be the best HR system for their organisation. From talking to vendors, they

nhs aligning incentives

Aligning Incentives

I would change the financial incentives so that all organisations are rewarded for the achievement of patient-determined outcomes….

nhs dynamic usage

Dynamic Usage

The amount of NHS footprint that goes unused on a routine basis borders on the criminal and needs to change…

nhs demand management

Demand Management

We’ve been talking about integrating health and social care for many years now – and yet evidence of meaningful progress is rarely seen.

nhs money is not the answer

Money is not the answer

The obvious ‘one thing’ that most would choose would be more money! But I am convinced that would not be the solution and would actually compound the already lopsided current system.

nhs curing prevention

Curing Prevention

I’d restore ‘Prevention of ill-health’ as a key priority for the NHS. One of the less controversial aspects of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 reforms at the time, was the transfer of public health commissioning from the NHS to local authorities.

IR35 changes

IR35 – What it means for Clients

The Off-Payroll Rules/IR35 is not new tax legislation.  Rules have been in place since 2000.  However, changes to these rules were implemented in the Public Sector in 2017 and were

IR35 changes

IR35 – What it means for Interims

The Off-Payroll Rules/IR35 is not new tax legislation.  Rules have been in place since 2000.  However, changes to these rules were implemented in the Public Sector in 2017 and are

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Clinical Leadership and the delivery of sustainable change

On Thursday 19th September, Practicus ran a roundtable discussion for clinicians, including CEOs, COOs and Senior Directors and Chief Nurses to focus on the challenges of delivering sustainable change from a clinical perspective. The event was well attended and chaired by Andrea O’Connell, Executive Director of Nursing.

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Delivering Integrated Care

On Thursday 12th September, Practicus ran a roundtable for CEOs, COOs and Senior Directors in the North West focused on the challenges of delivering sustainable integrated care. The event was well attended and led by Sir David Dalton, who gave a short presentation of his own experience ahead of chairing the discussion.

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Psychological Intervention

We invest billions every year in pills, potions, treatments and surgery and yet we invest little in psychological support. And I don’t mean counselling – I mean psychological support delivered by highly – skilled clinicians.

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Practicus’s support for BALM

When the leading Business Architect for Lloyd’s of London, Neil Williams engaged Practicus, his ambition was to resurrect an initiative that had previously struggled to get off the ground. He

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Roundtable Discussion: Sustainable Change within the NHS

The purpose of this roundtable discussion was to ask senior NHS leaders, including COOs, CFOs, CEO’s and Turnaround Directors their thoughts and innovative suggestions on how we can deliver and maintain sustainable change within the healthcare sector.

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Community Testimonial: Mark Chapman

Mark Chapman, CEO at Alliance Medical Group talks to us about the benefits of being part of the Practicus Community and how it can be used to solve business problems.

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The changing world of pharmaceuticals

The world of Pharma is undergoing significant change. “Big volume is now generic. To add value, you need to actually have a different proposition rather than just a per-milligram dose

nhs the primacy of primary care

The Primacy of Primary

For three decades our health and care policies vacillated between three competing needs, with the third priority having an increasingly dominant run.

nhs unnecessary variation

Unnecessary Variation

About the NHS it would be its lack of consistency. I spend time in a lot of different organisations and there are significant variations in practice that can mean less than optimal clinical care for patients, as well as additional unnecessary expens

nhs long term planning

Long Term Planning

Apart from the obvious wish for enhanced funding to arrive, the greatest limitation I have found with the NHS is the inability to plan service delivery (and thereby cost savings) over a long period.

nhs sustainable leadership

Sustainable Leadership

It would be the approach to recruitment, retention and development of leaders and leadership teams at all levels of the NHS.

nhs qi training

QI Training

After training over a thousand leads and clinical staff in the use of Quality Improvement (QI) tools, I am passionate about skills and capability building for NHS staff. If we always do what we have done, we will get the same results.

Practicus rises to 2nd place institute of interim management

Practicus rises to #2 in IIM survey

t has been a good first half to the year for Practicus. We turned 15 years old, we launched new value-added services based on our ONE + MANY model and we came 2nd in the Institute of Interim Management’s provider survey 2019, our highest ever position!

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Mental Health Awareness

Research shows that mental health problems in the workplace cost UK employers £26 billion per year, averaging £1,035 per employee. In fact, the vast majority of people will be impacted by mental health problems at some point in their life.

nhs restructuring funding

Restructuring Funding

Having spent over 12 years in the NHS in a variety of consulting roles – mainly focused on transformation and turnaround challenges – I have seen huge change. Some of this has been progressive but unfortunately, a lot has been unsuccessful, failing to deliver both sustainable benefits for patients and staff, or efficiency gains and financial improvement.

nhs stuck at the border

Stuck at the Border

It would be around the “connectivity of care” and effective seamless “handovers” – or dare I say it, have no “handovers” at all!
t is widely known that with every “hand off” at least 1-2 days delay are inbuilt into the patients journey – which can lead to more mistakes, confusion around who has done what already, deterioration of the patient, re-reviewing patients and Community out of-hospital staff having difficulty locating and receiving patients.

nhs high end assurance

High-End Assurance

The NHS is steeped in history and tradition, and has a strong surrounding infrastructure to support regulatory compliance, but sometimes this can lead to compartmentalisation of roles. I would change the way we think about clinical governance and how it sometimes gets separated out from operational and financial activity.

nhs personal responsibility

Personal Responsibility

The value and place of the NHS is not in question, nor is its contribution to the quality of all our lives. But something needs to change if policies on personal responsibility are to embed more widely

nhs breaking down barriers

Breaking down Barriers

f I could change one thing (politics aside) it would be to take a sledge hammer and open the whole lot up, take away the barriers, share information openly and work as a truly single organisation, only then will we be able to get to the root cause of our problems and solve them together.

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Independent healthcare agency and temporary staff

For the longest time, healthcare providers in both the public and independent sector have depended on agency staff, particularly around nursing, in order to meet their organisational objective.

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HR High Tea: Reward Strategy – Achieving more with Less

On Tuesday 9th April, we ran our ‘HR High Tea: Reward Strategy – Achieving more with Less’ event at Albert’s- Beaufort House in Chelsea to discuss ways companies can do more for less in the HR reward space. The session was led by Nik Butcher from Chuangyi Group.

nhs integrated talent management

Integrated Talent Management

It would be for evolving health and care systems to have available the workforce they really require. Fundamentally, we are in a place where the services that are there to support the health and care needs of individuals, do not have the key individuals they need to do so. For several years now, it has been well-recognised that professionals in key disciplines are in desperately short supply.

nhs managing at scale

Managing at Scale

It would be with management structures. The great companies have one thing in common: a world-class management system. One that cascades from top to bottom of the organisation, allowing management of their business at all levels and a clear line of sight from board to shop floor.

nhs standardising nhs provider funding

Standardisation of Funding

’d use the average income per specialty information to achieve standardisation of funding to providers across the NHS. National data exists or can be generated that would provide a basis for comparison to a peer group of similar providers at a specialty level.

NHS Interim Manager Insights

NHS ‘What If…” Report

    As NHS leaders announced their long-term plans in 2019, we invited  the views of a group of people seldom heard from, to see how they’d improve the NHS.

independent healthcare and the nhs improving partnerships

Independent Healthcare and the NHS: Partnerships

At the end of 2018, Practicus coordinated a roundtable – hosted by Alliance Healthcare – that brought together leaders from independent healthcare providers and the NHS. It’s focus? To look

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Good people, made better

by Darren Tolhurst, CEO. It’s taken us 15 years but we think we’ve finally cracked it! We set out in 2004 to change the way people feel about recruitment. That

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BI Without The BS

by Lawrence Hill. A night of open, honest discussion around the art of the possible. There’s a lot of excitement about Business Intelligence (BI) tools for empowering evidence-based decision making.

cover Winning the war of attrition in independent health

Winning the war of attrition in independent health

by Carl Stevenson, Managing Consultant. I wrote recently that the workforce problem facing independent health due to Brexit was really an intensification of long-standing hiring and retention issues. The truth

Overcoming resistance to change

In this series, we interview a respected change leader to discuss overcoming resistance to change and the lessons that made them who they are today. This month, it’s Annette Andresen,

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Practicus Executive Search Survey Report

By Lawrence Hill. Traditionally, executive search has always been about… well, searching for the right executive. But a recent survey conducted across 16 UK sectors by Practicus revealed that search

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How to build a giant-killer

In this series, we interview a respected change leader to discuss the successes and hard lessons that made them who they are today. This month, it’s Paul Johnson, an executive

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Who Should Lead Data Strategy?

by Ben Culora. As boardrooms across the world grapple with shaping a data-driven future for their business, there is real danger in believing the need for change lies outside of

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Keith Monk: leading change adding value

In this series, we interview a respected expert in leading change adding value to discuss the successes and hard lessons that made them who they are today. This month, it’s

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Outpatients Improvement

As pressure on Outpatients performance increases, we speak to Steve Gasking, an interim transformation director with more than a decade’s experience in acute environments.  With a CV eleven pages long,

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Driving Forward Data Science in Insurance

It’s interesting the ideas that come up in conversation when you are networking with people who share your interests. Take the example of two Scottish clergymen in the 1740s who

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How to lead digital transformation? Dave Kemble and colleagues explore the all-important ‘How?’ of leading digital transformation in large organisations, speaking to some of Europe’s most successful digital transformation professionals.

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The Data Files explores the rapidly evolving world of data, information and people.

A light-hearted limited series hosted by Barry Panayi (Chief Data Officer at John Lewis Partnership) and Tony Cassin-Scott (ex-CIO & CDO, now Advisor). They chat with some of the minds responsible for the past, present and future of the development of the data space and explore what’s worked, what’s not worked, and what the future might hold – both for organisations and for the data profession itself.

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