Hashtags 101 #NCASC #NCASC13

I’m the first to admit that when it comes to social media there are no rules, just preferences. However I’m so disappointed to see the same mistake/missed opportunity/confusion two years running by people who, as communications professionals, I think should know better @LGAComms that I’m venting here. My ideal would be that they see this, […]

Life after Bobby: Hospice Care Week

This is the view of the Rocky Mountains in Banff taken from Bow Falls yesterday. What has this got to do with Hospice Care Week? Everything. One of the objectives of Hospice Care Week is to raise people’s awareness of the work that hospices do. There are many myths and misconceptions about hospice care that […]

Social care evidence in practice: an English perspective #KTNConf

I’m typing this sat in the beautiful Banff Springs hotel in Canada where I’ve spent the last couple days at #KTNConf Inspiring Change. Organised and hosted by the Health Research Transfer Network of Alberta (RTNA), this conference has focused on the role of knowledge transfer in inspiring change. Rarely have I had the privilege to […]

Broadening the reach of #TLAP13

Since I started freelancing it has been really important to me to work with people who I think are a) doing important stuff, b) have values similar to mine and c) where I feel I can make a contribution and I’ll enjoy doing the work. I’ve spent a small amount of time recently working with […]

Life after Bobby: I’m free

I’m a member of a very small club that I really wouldn’t want any of you to be members of. That ‘club’ that exists only in loose tweets or sharing of experience, and is no way a club in the true sense of the word, is made up of people who have all felt the […]

Life after Bobby: Proud Dads

I’ve been grinning to myself all day today, for two reasons. Firstly because Social Care Curry Club was featured in the Guardian; ok so it wasn’t in print it was online on their Social Care Network pages but I’m delighted that it’s got some recognition and yet more support. We’ve been brilliantly lucky that people […]

Her name was Gloria

Today, 17 September 2013, two serious case reviews are published, one into the death of four year old Daniel Pelka who lived in Coventry and the other into 81 year old Gloria Foster who lived in Surrey. This post will introduce serious case reviews, introduce Gloria, précis the circumstances around her death and discuss societal attitudes to the […]

Five things I wish I knew when my Dad was dying of cancer #cholangiocarcinoma

Last November my Dad died from bile duct cancer, cholangiocarcinoma. Bile duct cancer is an incredibly rare cancer with current estimates of 1,000 new case in the UK each year and 2,500 in the US and an annual incidence rate of 1-2 cases per 100,000 people in the Western World. Search twitter for people talking about […]

Troublemakers or change makers – on the work blog

I wrote a blog post yesterday about the role of troublemakers and radicals in change. It built on this: and even included some thrown together graphics, a little bit inspired by Kirsty Newman’s blogging e.g. Anyhow, if you landed here hoping to find it and/or if you are now interested please pop over to my […]

Troublemakers or changemakers?

A couple weeks ago I stumbled across this tweet from @JaneMCummings that shows @HelenBevan speaking at a conference, although I couldn’t tell you which one because her hand covers the hashtag! I missed the conference title, the detail and the context, but the image stuck with me and I kept coming back to it. The […]