5 common sense doable shifts, we can all contribute to making these happen, right?
Thanks @profdonnahall.bsky.social @mutualventures.bsky.social

Existing data on community-focused approaches show that improvement "isn't achieved through a single policy solution, but instead through the aggregation of many simultaneous changes to the way in which care is organised and delivered". theweek.com/health/washw...

Moral Maze - What is the ethical purpose of the NHS? - BBC Sounds Debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.

Brilliant. Made me think! a missing voice tho(or perhaps just too quiet)... Whilst the NHS has a role in social justice, the responsibility is ours as a society and other partners (communities, councils & more) are ready to partner with NHS & maybe even to lead...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The energy at the edges The system is dying from the middle, but there’s vitality at the periphery

“The edges of the system are..in direct contact with the new environmental conditions, so they feel more keenly the inadequacy of the prevailing methods.“
Esp ❤️6b & James' description of progressive

I've felt this keenly this week

Tx @beccadove2.bsky.social fire sharing medium.com/@jamestplunk...

'Budd wonders if the nastiness that defines some well-heeled rightwing politicians is often projected on to places where it runs a lot less deep, meaning that “the prejudices of the suburban golf club are imputed to the council-estate boxing club… a kind of ventriloquised xenophobia.'

Starlings fall to record low in UK’s 2025 Big Garden Birdwatch RSPB urges people to support threatened birds by cutting lawns less frequently and avoiding pesticides Fewer starlings than ever have been spotted by participants in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, raising fears for their numbers. The bird conservation charity is urging Britain’s gardeners to keep their lawns wild by not cutting them too often, and to avoid the use of pesticides, which reduce the number of insects to eat and can poison birds. Continue reading...

Starlings fall to record low in UK’s 2025 Big Garden Birdwatch

'For the sake of power, they are destroying an enterprise that added more than 30 years to US life expectancy and made America the world leader in medical technology and innovation. We need you in Congress to stop this process.'

Dr. Atul Gawande updates Senators on the destruction of USAID: "They dismantled the US’s largest civilian force advancing global stability, peace, economic growth, and survival." This past week, Dr. Atul Gawande briefed US Senators on the effects that the destruction of USAID is already having. Here are the facts we need to know.

open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

Declaring emergencies to circumvent legal protections, in this case to justify logging national forests.

"The memo has the effect of declaring nearly 60% of all national forestlands to be in a state of emergency, thereby lifting the usual requirements for public comment and environmental review..."

♥️ this👇🏼"Our focus is on how you create an enabling environment so that the type of properly integrated neighbourhood level working becomes the local system, rather than having to fight against it"
@ojgarling.bsky.social @theqcommunity.bsky.social @matthewmezey.bsky.social

This 👇🏼

NO cruel cuts to benefits The Government is planning “catastrophic” cuts that experts say will force disabled people into poverty. Don’t think that’s right? Add your name now.

This petition calling on the Government NOT to make cruel cuts to benefits that will force more people into poverty now has almost 65,000 signatures.

Let’s make it 100,000 this weekend. It only takes a moment to sign🙏
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-cruel...

Convening Leadership with Kate Josephs 1 0 Radical Reformers podcast · Episode

open.spotify.com/episode/6yNX...

Convening Leadership

Be optimistic. We are not here to preside over managed decline
Tell a positive story. It helps shape optimism
Whitehall & town hall
Get into the messy reality
What is the north star for the place ..

HT @katejosephs.bsky.social

Woo-hoo! Welcome @profdonnahall.bsky.social, brilliant to have you sparkling in Bluesky 🙌🏼

12/ Instead of blaming individuals, how about we focus on:
✅ The real reasons people are struggling—poverty, insecurity, overstretched services.
✅ Why people have to jump through endless hoops just to access basic mental health support.
✅ Is this a truly evidenced based policy making?

7/ The UK spends 20.6% of GDP on social provisions less than the top 5 OECD countries, who spend 29.1%.
- The UK's incapacity benefits spending (inc mental health) is ⬇️ OECD average
- The UK is 1 of only 4 countries to have seen a significant decline in welfare generosity over the past 40 years.

Learning from the Inside Out by @wendylansdown on Bluesky I don’t think of myself as a Systems Thinker, it sounds a bit academic.  I’m more of a practical person. I learn by doing stuff – experiment, listen alongside coll…

I've written a new blog! Thinking about how we listen and learn and get stuff done together... neighbourhoodcares.wordpress.com/2025/02/14/l... @tobylowe.bsky.social @carolineslocock.bsky.social @gh72.bsky.social @ojgarling.bsky.social

The King’s Fund Responds To Public Health Grant Allocations In England | The King's Fund David Buck, Senior Fellow, responds to the public health grant allocations to local authorities for 2025/26.

Today, the #DHSC announced Public Health Grant allocations for 2025/26.The grant is the 'bread and butter' for local authorities implementing services to improve people’s health says @davidjbuck.bsky.social, Senior Fellow. Read our response in full 👇 https://buff.ly/42Ml6cf

Homelessness crisis places unsustainable pressure on local authorities' crumbling finances - Committees - UK Parliament Families face long stretches in unsuitable accommodation and the prospect of being relocated.Dire need for housing sector reform and increase in the availability of affordable housing.

PAC report lays bare the short-termism and failure of govt to join up policies when it comes to homelessness, causing unnecessary costs and human suffering. Hopefully, the new govt will work with homeless charities to develop a preventative strategy, soon. committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...

Reimagining the welfare state with Hilary Cottam OBE | The King's Fund Anna Charles speaks to Hilary Cottam OBE about the importance of building new systems that are equipped to deal with the health challenges of today.

In 2023, Hilary Cottam joined our podcast to talk about the importance of building new systems that are equipped to deal with the health challenges of today, & the need to foster ‘horizontal’ bonds between communities & public services. Listen to episode in full. www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

Children facing a ‘happiness recession’ says laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce Author will highlight the ‘enormous disadvantage’ handed to children without access to books, and call on government to improve early-years literacy Children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce is calling on Keir Starmer’s government to “stand up and give a…

Children facing a ‘happiness recession’ says laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce

The big idea: in a disaster, bad help can be worse than no help at all Emergency relief must be about money, not well-intentioned donations of goods

www.theguardian.com/books/2023/m...

‘A welfare state with a budget on the right side of zero’: Iceland’s youngest-ever prime minister has a plan for a new kind of governance Kristrún Frostadóttir, who entered politics just four years ago, speaks to the Observer about feminism, the far right and reopening talks on joining the EU

A good read www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Hi Rae, I came to the inaugural event in Cambridge, I remember seeing you! I also went to the first Weaving Trust events, but have lost touch a bit since... Time to reconnect!

Re-reading this book on Elinor Ostrom and this is such a nice paragraph (NB: lightly edited):

"From the beginning of her career, Ostrom emphasized that political change and improvements in policy outcomes are driven by public entrepreneurs (public officials, community leaders, citizens). 1/n

"Contributions from a wide range of public entrepreneurs are also critical to the long-term sustainability of the civic foundations of liberal democracy."

(I like it partly because it brings hope and shows we have agency. Change comes from an array of people across the system, not from the top.)