Charity Insights

Four weeks completed. Wow. What an experience it has been. My time with BHF has flown by and I have very much enjoyed it!

With one document nearly complete (11 pages), 3 documents plans (11 pages each), 4 detailed cross referencing tables (15 pages each) for use online and one slightly frazzled brain, my time is complete!

The task I faced had not be tried before and no one quite knew what the final product would look like but after 4 weeks, 16 government/ NHS documents have been distilled down to 4 document plans. Not a small challenge. The final week has consisted of talking to other departments to get their veiw on what the tone and layout should be and trying to combine these into one. With last minute dramatic changes in layout it has been a challenging week!The Summer Social on Wednesday broke up the week and was a great chance to chat to people out of a working environment.

The team I have been working with very kindly gave me gifts to say thank you for my work! Some of which I can keep forever and always remember my time with BHF.

Thank you Charity Insights for this opportunity. I couldn’t have done it without the support.

Over and Out.

Read So long, farewell… in full

Week 3 went the quickest of them all. Having got into the swing of office life I felt more confident still.

The challenge for this week was to take the detailed cross referencing tables I had made last week and try to form a more digestable verision as a resource! The audience would be the Clinical Commisioning Groups who could use this resource as a business case study to get the projects implemented in their local area. Once I have a temporary version the document can be sent to a publisher to be produced as a proper brochure (exciting!).

However, this task was easier said than done.

The team have never had such a document before despite the fact everyone I have spoken to here said “oh that is a great idea” and I am realising now it is probably because of the extensive amount of time it has taken to simplify numerous complicated documents into a user friendly version without loosing the important details. With no template to follow this week has been quite a challenge!

Things this done this week:

• exploring different layouts (A4? What colours are allowed with the branding team? What font is allowed? Which style of referencing? Does the BHF logo need to be on everypage- if yes where? what images can be used)
• understanding what the BHF “tone” of voice  – this I found particularly difficult having never been asked to write in a tone that wasn’t my own before!
• speaking to members of the policy team to identify the areas they are calling for improvement and hence which areas should be emphasised
• what are the most important details and therefore what should the order of information be within the document?
• should the document be split into policies or themes?

Ended week 3 with four rough templates for home-based IV Diuretics and Integrated care (England, Wales and Scotland)

As breaks from a computer screen I had scheduled meetings with members from different departments, some of which had taken part in Grad schemes or study science at university so were very helpful in guiding me to what the next steps could be!

Read The last week approaches.. in full

So having finished my second week with BHF it is safe to say I know a few things about IV diuretics and Integrated Care!

Feeling settled in (worked out how to get the boiling water from the tap for tea) I was less nervous about the week approaching. Friendly faces always greeted me in the morning and I now had a better understanding of some of the NHS terminology which was making reading government policies and strategies quite tough last week! My Aim for the week was to get through 2 evaluation reports, one about IV diuretics within the home and the other about Integrated Care schemes taking place in England, Wales and Scotland. Each of the projects carried out has been funded by BHF and the aim is to understand the process required to set up such schemes and have feedback from patients, carers and HCPs (Health care professional) to see whether the scheme was beneficial.

My role is to then link the results from these evaluations to existing Government Policies and create a document that can be published and branded as BHF to be taken to conferences to prove why these projects should be undertaken at a national level.

Throughout the week I have been creating extensive cross referencing tables for each of the following projects: IV Diuretics within the home (England), Integrated care projects (England, Wales, Scotland). Each country within the United Kingdom has has its own set of government policies (quite alot of reading!). During the week I had allocated time slots with the various members of different departments who were able to enlighten me as to their roles within BHF.

Read Week Two with BHF in full

First week completed working for British Heart Foundation with the Healthcare and Innovations team!

Each day this week has brought something a little different meaning time has flown by. Monday started with a tour of the office in North London (attempting to remember everyone’s name!) and a presentation from the Chief Executive of BHF to all members of staff to summarise what BHF has been doing over the last 2 years and where it hopes to go in the future. I then spent a few hours getting to grips with the NHS terminology and acronyms in some of the evaluations I would be tackling later in the week. The afternoon consisted of a meeting with an external charity to see if BHF could  benefit from some of their work and resources.

Tuesday mornings task challenged my ability to speed read. I consumed 150 pages of detailed evaluations of projects undertaken by BHF. It was fascinating stuff but at this stage I wasn’t quite clear how to use this information so made my own judgements. Team building lunch at Prezzo was very enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to integrate into the team. We then headed off to a meeting about a current pilot study that appeared to going really well and would give some useful results.

On Wednesday I was allocated time to clarify my role with Eleanor and Sarah (members of Healthcare and Innovations team) and things started to come together and make sense. At this point my diary was filled with meetings with various people from different departments which will give me a brilliant over view of how the charity works. With a more focussed and targeted view I could rethink my analysis of the evaluations I had read earlier in the week and start cross referencing to government policies.

Thursday morning I was a bit tired having moved out of my flat the night before so was a bit slow to start. I then had a meeting with a member of Children and Young People Team who explained the need for their resources and support for young people suffering with heart conditions. A trip to a Mexican place just down the road for Amy’s Birthday was another great chance to talk to people and understand what paths they had taken to reach their position in BHF. In the afternoon I had a meeting with a fellow scientist, Matt, who worked in the resources team. Matt had also studied biochemistry at university so we had quite a lot in common! He explained the work he had done for his PhD and how his science background was crucial to his role now within the BHF.

Friday consisted of a meeting with Jess, Health at Work team and Eleanor who is involved in the translational grants. Both of these meetings were very interesting and helpful for me to think about possible paths I might take in the future.

As I stood on the 5.49 train home, I reflected about the week and couldn’t help but get excited about what the next three weeks had in store!

Read Fight for every Heartbeat in full