Will has been a Health Foundry member since 2016.
Going into the new year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the changes in the last year, as well as map out the near future.
We caught up with Will, our Programmes & Partnerships Lead, to talk about changes in recent months and some of the things we have to look forward to in the coming months.
Can you introduce yourself, and some of what you’ve been working on recently for Health Foundry?
I’m Will Nicholson, and I’m the Programmes & Partnerships Lead at Health Foundry. I started in October, at quite an interesting time for Health Foundry, where as a result of Covid we spent the last long period of time without our major asset: our physical space. We also have an entirely new team who are running the Health Foundry. So we have Sara who has returned from maternity leave, myself, and Aadam - yourself- joining as Communications Lead. So it’s been a, kind of, crossroads for the Health Foundry. We’ve been looking at how we think about, and imagine, the role of the Health Foundry, given we don’t have our physical space; how do we engage with our members, our partners; what is the role that we can play; how do we still retain the Health Foundry as a collective workspace for digital health even though we don’t have our physical space. I’ve spent the last 3 months having many 1-to-1 conversations with members and partners, potential members, and people who have an interest in digital health. We’ve also trialled out a number of different events to bring people together, including a pain surgery around regulation with one of our new members; we’ve hosted an event with the North Lambeth Primary Care Network and North Lambeth Community Forum to talk about the role of digital health in primary care and in communities. Through all of that work, it has been fascinating to understand where the Health Foundry fits with all of our stakeholders, and how we can best organise ourselves, our programming, our time, and our neutrality as a space and place where people can meet and connect around digital health.
How has the pandemic impacted the way Health Foundry has been doing things? You’ve touched on the loss of our physical space, and the need to be flexible; can you please elaborate.
Clearly the loss of our physical working space has been the biggest impact of Covid. So for a lot of our members, the key value of the Health Foundry was having a very convenient and flexible working environment, and very friendly working environment, in Central London, in close proximity of NHS providers and commissioners in Lambeth, and part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity; a very well connected space. And what we’ve had to do as a result is look at the value that the Health Foundry provides beyond the physical space and that’s a lot of what I’ve been talking to members about. So what else is it that people find valuable from partnering or connecting with Health Foundry.
What sort of programming can members expect from Health Foundry, as well as changes, with the continuing situation around Covid-19 into the new year?
One of the key things that we’ve done in recognising that we’re no longer providing that value in the physical space has been to be very flexible in our memberships. We have converted everyone’s membership to a Community Member so that we’re not charging members for the use of the physical space whilst we’re in this position. What we are now focusing on is our online programming, and how we can create value for our members through 3 key areas: Community, Connections, and Partnerships.
And, lastly, what do you see for the future of Health Foundry in the year 2021?
The biggest hope is that we get our space back, and we can start seeing each other again. I think that will happen, but that won’t happen until, I think, the summer - anything earlier than that will be a bonus. I’m really looking forward to that. Nothing quite beats seeing people face to face. What I am excited about in the meantime, in those 3 areas that I’ve talked about, is how we still create that sense of community, how we build community, how we create relationships and that sense of belonging and peer connection between our members, our clinician partners, our external advisors, and other partners that have an interest in digital health. How we can find ways to do that in a digital way, through online programming, through phone calls, perhaps even through socially distanced ways of meeting, for example hosting yoga sessions online. I’m really excited by that and I’m also really interested in how we can continue to facilitate partnership working and helping people to connect with the support for the health system depending on what they need.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
I'm keen to continue to connect with any members, partners and others interested in working with Health Foundry. So please get in touch!
Interviewer: Aadam Muuse
Words: Aadam Muuse