Monthnote: December 2023

I am writing this on the evening before I return to work after the Christmas break. It’s an attempt to focus my thoughts ahead of a brand-new, box-fresh new year.

Writing in late 2022, John Higgs said “I think we should pencil in a new era arriving in 2024” with 2023 being a “void between eras”. Last year was definitely eventful, but Higgs’ quote stayed with me throughout and I always felt that 2023 was primarily about preparation for 2024.

Speaking of which…

I’m officially Head of Product for the NHS App

This was confirmed in December. The training wheels are off. I can no longer claim to be ‘interim’, nor can I blame the previous incumbent for anything that goes wrong.

UKGovcamp 2024 is happening on 20 January

The big unconference for public sector digital stuff is happening on 20 January in London. The organisers have upgraded to a bigger venue and there are still some tickets left via https://www.ukgovcamp.com/

Change in NHS England

We are approaching the last final stages of the creation of the new NHS England. Over the next 3 months we will be shifting into the new organisational structure(s) needed to make real the recommendations of the Wade-Gery review.

Things like this obviously don’t change overnight but from my point of view, January to March will be a conspicuous period of change — at pretty much every level of the organisation.

Priorities for the NHS App

Against this backdrop, my immediate priorities for the NHS App and its product managers seem pretty clear:

• finish the strategy for the NHS App with our new programme director, Helena Powell, and publish it
• decide our new team structure and support people to shift into it
• allow teams to focus on laying foundations for future delivery instead of (with the exception of a couple of milestones) delivering new features
• making some decisions about future direction off the back of 3 separate discoveries that conclude soon.

My cultural highlights of the month

• The Fifty Years War: Israel and the Arabs on BBC iPlayer. This 6-part documentary is 25 years old but very relevant. It’s a very old-school doc — lots of detail, very few recaps — featuring some very candid interviews with some very big names.
• John Higgs’ Octannual Manual email newsletter. I referenced it in the intro. Make this your first newsletter subscription of the year.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is exactly what you want from a sequel. So much of it is familiar from Breath of the Wild, but there are some striking new additions that give it a greater richness.