The times they are a’changing

Gita Bhutani, Co-Chair of the PPN North West 

Whether you like Bob Dylan or not, the NHS does seem to be in a constant state of change.

So far this year, there’s been the planned abolition of NHS England and merger with DHSC, reductions expected in the number of ICBs, reductions expected in NHS Trusts of corporate functions and overall a real financial squeeze.  Then there is the wider social and political world around us.

These events create a lot of uncertainty for people and when plans are unclear, it can make it even more difficult and stressful.  If you are directly affected by these changes then it’s a difficult place to be.  If you are not directly affected, the environment that we are all in is affected by this.

We are all also patients and service users of NHS services (from primary care and beyond) and the current challenges may directly affect us and/or families and friends.

Then there are those to whom we provide our services, they are actively seeking change for themselves to make things better than they have been.

Change is all around us and some change is potentially good – supporting a patient or service user to feel and cope better.  Some change may be good in terms of improving services.  Some change may not be good e.g. reductions in services. 

Change is difficult and perhaps not many of us embrace change.   This may be because we have evolved to detect changes as potential threats so it’s maybe a default response (is that a lion on the horizon?).  But we have thinking abilities that can help us look at this differently.  Hopefully, most of us have others who can help us cope with changes – whether it’s just having a moan or actively trying to work out how to solve a problem or checking our perceptions (is that a lion or a funny-looking tree?).   And we can be that helping person too (I can lend you my glasses)?

There’s a phrase ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. Many of us will have heard this and it can seem cliched.  Also, sometimes it is not true, but working collectively can have impact.  The PPN North West came from a recognition that working collectively was important in enhancing the voice of psychological professions for the benefit of people.   We have come a long way since those early conversations and groups in 2013.   In the North West alone, we have over 4000 members and across England there are regional groups and the total membership is around 19000.  This allows psychological professionals to be part of many more conversations – to enable people to change and manage change, to influence change individually, locally, regionally, nationally and to inform ourselves and others about what psychological approaches can offer in health and social care.   The PPN can provide that opportunity to turn problems into opportunities. 

Now to find more songs…