My exploratory visit to India was a great learning experience both for my UK company and the plans for international expansion. One of the great benefits of going away is it gives you time to think and some perspective. I also read two excellent books:
Re-inventing the CFO and
The Workforce Scorecard .
In the first there was an excellent view on what has always frustrated me about finance and it fits with a clear and urgent need for us to have a CFO so it helped me think about the sort of person we would want.
The second book opened my eyes to some simple facts about the people in work – they are at least 60% of costs so the investment in them is a no brainier. I also love the quote this message:
Anthony J Rucci, Steven P Kirn and Richard T Quinn: “The Employee-Customer-Profit Chain at Sears” – Harvard Business Review
The measure of workforce climate is a very broad concept and includes employee perceptions of a company’s strategy execution and leadership practices. Based on data collected from 1997 to 2003, they find that workforce climate is a good predictor of future customer satisfaction, which is a good predictor of future market share. If measures are answers to questions, how much more compelling would those “answers” be if we could determine the relationship between the measures of strategic performance behaviours and customer buying experience? Both the line managers and the HR Manager would be able to get more specific answers, like
“A 15 percent improvement in performance behaviours has increased customer buying experience by 25 percent, which in turn has increased sales growth by 6 percent.”
The other key idea is of people in A strategic positions needing to be A performers really appeals to me and Ms ABW in HR has some clear goals that will help me define her KPIs and MBOs (call me a convert – HR is exciting once you appreciate the link to business strategy and its implementation!).
A few lessons from India
1. Choose the right consultant and agree fees in writing before hand
I choose SK and she did a great job, achieving high-level access to companies, insurers and doctors. One minor error is that we should have agreed and signed off on a fix-fee contract but all is well.
2. Caution re drivers etc
Traffic in Indian metropolitan cities is terrible. You need a driver and a good one with an air-conditioned car.
Customer service stories from India
2 bad
Nehru jacket story
SK the Indian consultant and I have finished seeing a doctor and weak past a clothes shop, which has a Nehru jacket in the window. We go inside and enquire after said Nehru jacket, about four people look a bit bewildered and then send us upstairs. The elderly man upstairs looks even more confused about a Nehru jacket and first shows me a normal jacket and then a jerkin. SK is surprised and we start to leave. On the way down the stairs the accountant says in perfect English ‘Did you not find what you were looking for?’. I reply ‘No, all we wanted was a Nehru jacket!.’ He says ‘Like this one here and pulls one out. Finally I but the jacket and trousers and he proudly tells me that guess who they used to make jackets for – Nehru! Now, the lesson there is dead obvious – Make sure your staff know your product line, especially if it is in the window!
Ram Charan story
I am a great admirer of Ram Charan and think any educated Indian should be proud of their countryman. At a small bookshop I notice they have a business section. I ask the hapless man on the desk if he has anything by Ram Charan. He looks lost and eventually decides to look at his database. He shakes his head but as he does so I notice that behind him is a book by Ram Charan! Again, staff should know their product lines! By the way, ‘Know How’ is a great book.
2 good
Insurance medical market
At a meeting with Kotak Insurance this was estimated for us as worth over $54 million and at NM Medical they explained that do the number of medical insurers required they would need 5000 clinics not 5!
The UKTI team in Mumbai
Anjali and her team were really helpful and speedily provided useful data and advice.
People meetings in India
The incomprehensible
One doctor in his 70’s was a delight but was like a ‘Carry On@ character as he rambled away in his version of English but a great guy and he showed us proudly round his hospital.
The asshole
One doctor was rude and denied we had an appointment and denied knowing who had made it despite him trying to get that person on his board! Well, he blew that one. Cross-referencing confirmed his local status as an ‘asshole’ and the doubtful reputation of his facilities.
The dude
We saw a fantastic hospital with fantastic staff and were then, as a bonus, invited to see the Chief Executive. He was a handsome, trendy young man with long hair and a photo of himself with Miss India on the wall. Beat that!
Summary
India is an opportunity and I really look forward to working with local partners to set up our first clinics there.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Lack of commercial availability of Swine Flu (H1N1) Vaccine
This is a special post
Dr Charlie Easmon MBBS MRCP MSc Public Health DTM&H DOccMed
Medical Director www.numberonehealth.co.uk
Email cahrlie@numberonehealth.co.uk
When is a customer not a customer? When is a pound not a pound? A dollar not a dollar? When a drug company says so?
When I first became aware that drug companies were producing a pandemic vaccine, I was excited. When I heard, on the grapevine, that pandemic vaccine was only available to government I, at first, accepted that.
However, on reflection, the decision by the drug companies to make no stocks of pandemic available commercially seems to me absurd, anti-competitive and unfair.
Does Ferrari only sell to Arabs? (no offence intended to Arabs)
My anger and frustration comes on behalf of my staff, friends, colleagues and clients.
Private health care in the UK is at least 10% of all healthcare. The private sector are efficient deliverers of vaccine services for both private and the National Health Service (NHS). The private sector can facilitate the access of pandemic vaccine to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and those with pre-existing conditions. The private sector can administer vaccines in the workplace and so help 1) the UK economy by staff not having to take time off work and 2) General Practitioners by reducing the burden on them.
I tried to assess the rationale of the drug companies for not selling to the private sector.
1) Had the UK government banned them from selling it to the private sector?
Email exchanges with the Department of Health (DH) confirmed that this is not the case.
2) Lack of production capacity?
Possible, but in my view not an acceptable excuse for lack of communication on such an important issue. If you can produce several million doses for a key client (government), you can still make provision of a few thousand or tens of thousands for the private sector.
3) Legal issues
I struggle to see what these would be. The vaccine is safe and has European medical regulatory licensing. Private practitioners have appropriate levels of risk insurance.
4) An internal policy decision
This seems to be the likely reason but by whom and with what decision matrix? There is no transparency about this. In my experience the drug company staff themselves are confused by the policy and some do not understand or support it.
My message to the drug companies on this issue is that such an important policy decision should be transparent and communicated to private clients in a way that they can at least respond.
There is a real risk, in my view, of damaged customer relations and life has been made more difficult for the field force (reps) of the drug companies. These reps normally spend the whole year trying to SELL products to us. Suddenly for the one pandemic in world history for which there is a vaccine, the private sector is no longer a customer!
I hope that colleagues will take up this cause whether they agree with me or not.
Incidentally, I was amused by one incident. The drug company mantra is ‘we only sell to government’. I then got a call from a government asking for 400 doses for their UK-based embassy staff. The response – nothing!
So, how do I feel that the drug companies could have handled this better? They could have communicated early to private providers along the following lines:
Re pandemic flu vaccines, the vast majority of our stock will go to government. We believe that this is the right thing for us to do. However, we have not forgotten our private clients and have made a small allocation of X doses available. Clearly, demand will outstrip supply for these few doses and we will allocate on rationed basis (for example, usage of our other vaccine products in the private sector).
Finally, as a private practitioner I respect the NHS and believe that the vast majority of the vaccine should be administered from that source with help form the private sector where necessary. However, I also believe in choice, and it grates to have that choice taken away with no proper redress.
Dr Charlie Easmon MBBS MRCP MSc Public Health DTM&H DOccMed
Medical Director www.numberonehealth.co.uk
Email cahrlie@numberonehealth.co.uk
When is a customer not a customer? When is a pound not a pound? A dollar not a dollar? When a drug company says so?
When I first became aware that drug companies were producing a pandemic vaccine, I was excited. When I heard, on the grapevine, that pandemic vaccine was only available to government I, at first, accepted that.
However, on reflection, the decision by the drug companies to make no stocks of pandemic available commercially seems to me absurd, anti-competitive and unfair.
Does Ferrari only sell to Arabs? (no offence intended to Arabs)
My anger and frustration comes on behalf of my staff, friends, colleagues and clients.
Private health care in the UK is at least 10% of all healthcare. The private sector are efficient deliverers of vaccine services for both private and the National Health Service (NHS). The private sector can facilitate the access of pandemic vaccine to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and those with pre-existing conditions. The private sector can administer vaccines in the workplace and so help 1) the UK economy by staff not having to take time off work and 2) General Practitioners by reducing the burden on them.
I tried to assess the rationale of the drug companies for not selling to the private sector.
1) Had the UK government banned them from selling it to the private sector?
Email exchanges with the Department of Health (DH) confirmed that this is not the case.
2) Lack of production capacity?
Possible, but in my view not an acceptable excuse for lack of communication on such an important issue. If you can produce several million doses for a key client (government), you can still make provision of a few thousand or tens of thousands for the private sector.
3) Legal issues
I struggle to see what these would be. The vaccine is safe and has European medical regulatory licensing. Private practitioners have appropriate levels of risk insurance.
4) An internal policy decision
This seems to be the likely reason but by whom and with what decision matrix? There is no transparency about this. In my experience the drug company staff themselves are confused by the policy and some do not understand or support it.
My message to the drug companies on this issue is that such an important policy decision should be transparent and communicated to private clients in a way that they can at least respond.
There is a real risk, in my view, of damaged customer relations and life has been made more difficult for the field force (reps) of the drug companies. These reps normally spend the whole year trying to SELL products to us. Suddenly for the one pandemic in world history for which there is a vaccine, the private sector is no longer a customer!
I hope that colleagues will take up this cause whether they agree with me or not.
Incidentally, I was amused by one incident. The drug company mantra is ‘we only sell to government’. I then got a call from a government asking for 400 doses for their UK-based embassy staff. The response – nothing!
So, how do I feel that the drug companies could have handled this better? They could have communicated early to private providers along the following lines:
Re pandemic flu vaccines, the vast majority of our stock will go to government. We believe that this is the right thing for us to do. However, we have not forgotten our private clients and have made a small allocation of X doses available. Clearly, demand will outstrip supply for these few doses and we will allocate on rationed basis (for example, usage of our other vaccine products in the private sector).
Finally, as a private practitioner I respect the NHS and believe that the vast majority of the vaccine should be administered from that source with help form the private sector where necessary. However, I also believe in choice, and it grates to have that choice taken away with no proper redress.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
October 2009
October 2009
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External:
We have welcomed back Ms KE after extended maternity leave. K’s key current project is re-organisation of office space as we have grown. I am reviewing the long-term plan in terms of space and the options are 1) 100% move 2) 100% stay and 3) partial stay (i.e. clinical services at 1 Harley Street and admin functions local bit at a lower cost per square foot). Ms ABW now works on HR and special projects as planned and has a main task of cutting our transport costs by half for a Primary Care Trust (PCT) project in which we would otherwise loose money.
Sadly 2 nurses have had to be disciplined. One suspended but we do suspect a serious medical problem and await confirmation of that.
Operations:
I have spoken to bursars, GPs and Travel underwrites on swine flu H1N1 and I must say I learn something new every time. I spoke again to the Diploma in Occupational Medicine students on ‘Caring for Employees Overseas’ and made some useful medical contacts in Qatar, Bahrain and Nigeria.
Mr LL has excellently demonstrated that as we have grown the need for a specific stock-controller has increased – this cannot be the job of one busy clinical nurse. So post-office reorganisation, Ms KE will sort this one (I am excited by the possibilities and can see how it will make the lives’ of the clinical staff easier and ensure good stock control!).
KE has set up my appointments for the November-December clinical audits and appraisal of the medical team. We also have a visit from the Australians in November appraising our visa medical processes.
We have had a big review of future IT needs (I still dream of a Mac office!).
Ms KE and ABW have set up our future Management Team and whole team meetings.
Strategic:
Our biggest challenge has related to providing cervical cancer vaccines for NHS Primary Care Trusts, especially after the death of the unfortunate girl. Some of the press were very one-sided but common sense seems to have prevailed overall and things swung back into action surprisingly quickly.
The visit to India (Delhi/Mumbai) is all set for November 14-22. My good friend Dr John Llewellyn of the FCO will host me in Delhi and Ms Sheela Kennan is acting a consultant and has set up the relevant meetings.
Our Objectives are as follows:
To meet potential Indian Medical Partners
To identify a property lawyer
To identify a suitable location for a clinic in each city
To meet with 1-2- Indian companies in each location that might use our services
To discuss our plans with the British Commercial attaché
Have discussed with Dr MS a new role as Deputy MD since I will be travelling more and this will become increasingly important.
Financial: A unique opportunity has arisen to buy back 40% of my shares. I must say I am disappointed with one bank where we had several meetings and in the end ‘the computer says no’. Why lead business people up the garden path? Let the computer do the talking first and help us all save loads of time and effort.
Marketing: The YouTube channel has 6 new videos.
• Travel Health Basics
• Occupational Health: The Basics
• A simple guide to what NHS GP services can and cannot provide v
• Mole in One: Mole Screening
• The Pill Cam: Coming soon to NOH
• My response to anti-vaccination questions Flu and Seasonal Flu
Previously uploaded
• Flu and Seasonal Flu and HPV2009
This information will be emailed to our key contacts and we will need to work on the search engine optimisations to make these more popular.
Dr JB spoke at the World Youth and Student Travel conference. I made some good contacts and found a suitable location for Manchester clinic.
Innovation: Once again I sing the delights of the Flip camera (best £100 spent on marketing).
Best business reads this month: Harvard Business Review – they review a book that I have not read but it sounds really interesting: Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan Books 2009)
Best past business reads: Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono (a must for managing meetings)
Quote of the month: ‘Profits in their true sense are simply the reward of foresight and courage - the foresight to see where opportunities exist to meet mankind's needs more adequately and cheaply than before; and the courage to risk one's energies and one's savings in exploiting these opportunities’ Deterding Royal Dutch Shell
Charity of the month: Transplant Links
www.transplantlinks.org and Kids Company www.kidso.org.uk
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External:
We have welcomed back Ms KE after extended maternity leave. K’s key current project is re-organisation of office space as we have grown. I am reviewing the long-term plan in terms of space and the options are 1) 100% move 2) 100% stay and 3) partial stay (i.e. clinical services at 1 Harley Street and admin functions local bit at a lower cost per square foot). Ms ABW now works on HR and special projects as planned and has a main task of cutting our transport costs by half for a Primary Care Trust (PCT) project in which we would otherwise loose money.
Sadly 2 nurses have had to be disciplined. One suspended but we do suspect a serious medical problem and await confirmation of that.
Operations:
I have spoken to bursars, GPs and Travel underwrites on swine flu H1N1 and I must say I learn something new every time. I spoke again to the Diploma in Occupational Medicine students on ‘Caring for Employees Overseas’ and made some useful medical contacts in Qatar, Bahrain and Nigeria.
Mr LL has excellently demonstrated that as we have grown the need for a specific stock-controller has increased – this cannot be the job of one busy clinical nurse. So post-office reorganisation, Ms KE will sort this one (I am excited by the possibilities and can see how it will make the lives’ of the clinical staff easier and ensure good stock control!).
KE has set up my appointments for the November-December clinical audits and appraisal of the medical team. We also have a visit from the Australians in November appraising our visa medical processes.
We have had a big review of future IT needs (I still dream of a Mac office!).
Ms KE and ABW have set up our future Management Team and whole team meetings.
Strategic:
Our biggest challenge has related to providing cervical cancer vaccines for NHS Primary Care Trusts, especially after the death of the unfortunate girl. Some of the press were very one-sided but common sense seems to have prevailed overall and things swung back into action surprisingly quickly.
The visit to India (Delhi/Mumbai) is all set for November 14-22. My good friend Dr John Llewellyn of the FCO will host me in Delhi and Ms Sheela Kennan is acting a consultant and has set up the relevant meetings.
Our Objectives are as follows:
To meet potential Indian Medical Partners
To identify a property lawyer
To identify a suitable location for a clinic in each city
To meet with 1-2- Indian companies in each location that might use our services
To discuss our plans with the British Commercial attaché
Have discussed with Dr MS a new role as Deputy MD since I will be travelling more and this will become increasingly important.
Financial: A unique opportunity has arisen to buy back 40% of my shares. I must say I am disappointed with one bank where we had several meetings and in the end ‘the computer says no’. Why lead business people up the garden path? Let the computer do the talking first and help us all save loads of time and effort.
Marketing: The YouTube channel has 6 new videos.
• Travel Health Basics
• Occupational Health: The Basics
• A simple guide to what NHS GP services can and cannot provide v
• Mole in One: Mole Screening
• The Pill Cam: Coming soon to NOH
• My response to anti-vaccination questions Flu and Seasonal Flu
Previously uploaded
• Flu and Seasonal Flu and HPV2009
This information will be emailed to our key contacts and we will need to work on the search engine optimisations to make these more popular.
Dr JB spoke at the World Youth and Student Travel conference. I made some good contacts and found a suitable location for Manchester clinic.
Innovation: Once again I sing the delights of the Flip camera (best £100 spent on marketing).
Best business reads this month: Harvard Business Review – they review a book that I have not read but it sounds really interesting: Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan Books 2009)
Best past business reads: Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono (a must for managing meetings)
Quote of the month: ‘Profits in their true sense are simply the reward of foresight and courage - the foresight to see where opportunities exist to meet mankind's needs more adequately and cheaply than before; and the courage to risk one's energies and one's savings in exploiting these opportunities’ Deterding Royal Dutch Shell
Charity of the month: Transplant Links
www.transplantlinks.org and Kids Company www.kidso.org.uk
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
July-September
July-September 2009
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External:
We have recruited 2 excellent new team members. Welcome Vanessa Hallick and Gemma Cannon! Vanessa heads up our outside vaccines for Primary Care Trusts and Flu vaccines on business sites. Gemma currently is in reception. Both came from the agency May and Stephens and we are really impressed with the candidates. Ms Kristina Evangelou returns on 1st October from extended maternity leave as Practice Manager. The excellent Ms Avril Bunton-Williams stays on with an HR and a Project management role to cover our increasing NHS Primary Care Trust work and other items.
I have done 2 team appraisals in the last month and found the experience very rewarding. It is great to have such a fantastic team.
Operations:
I was amazed a few weeks ago to realise that for Swine flu/H1N1 Yahoo is more up to date than both WHO and the Health Protection Agency! I worked with City HR and Simmons and Simmons on a breakfast seminar for HR managers on the subject and this went well – we do another event on 10th of September.
I have had 2 trips to Africa since the last blog.
One week in Rwanda in July
Dr Jane Hill works with Rwanda Aid and works for free in Rwanda and pays the salary of a doctor Chris from the Congo. Jane was the host for myself and UK nurse Uma Fernandes. She was a great host and we visited 3 clinics. At first, Uma and I did wonder what we could contribute but over time we realised we could help train local medical staff (doctor/nurse) on basic primary care issues.
The Rwanda clinics had very good record keeping and most basic drugs but patients were not examined as often as I thought they should be (the least a medical can do in a resource poor area is look at and examine the patient!). It was also a shame that they do not have access to the latest simple diagnostic tests for HIV and malaria and so many patients are over-treated and no-one every knows what was really wrong with them!
Day 1 Nkombo Island (in the Congo. 16000 inhabitants – very poor!)
Day 2 Bugarama (the most ill people we saw)
Day 3 Banda in the forest
The pathology seen included:
HIV and associated nervous system destruction
Filariasis
Possible Tuberculosis
Probable Trachoma conjunctivitis
Balinitis
Parkinson’s (I donated some money for this guy to get new clothes)
Warts, herpes, Chlamydia (all in the same man!)
Malaria
Dental abscess
Thyroglossal cyst
Burn
Pleurisy of unknown cause
I donated my Optylse for opthalmoscopy and sphygmomanometer.
Rwanda reminded me that as I see it:
Quality in primary care is made up of:
Dignity and respect for patients
Physician listens examines and uses best available laboratory resources
Has essential drug kit
Has optimal equipment
Explains diseases and treatment
Hands out patient information
Gets feedback from peers and from patients
Physician has Continuing Professional Development Programme
Integrates with best of local health and welfare systems
Uses Education, Information and communication in public health
Have a look at the Rwanda video which will soon be uploaded to www.youtube.com/numberonehealth
My next trip to Africa was for the British Council in Botswana and Mozambique. I have not been to Botswana sine Raleigh International in 1994 and then I was 3 months in the gorgeous Okovango Delta (JP and Clive are still great mates from that period). Gabarone is now more famous since Jill Scott acts as the Number One lady detective. Rasina met me at the airport and the man is a star. He had me featured in 2 local papers, interviewed for a third and a slot on Botswana National TV. My subject matter was management and occupational health with the core message that HIV should now be treated as any other chronic illness. The audience of 50 plus were superb and we had some great discussion and I think I made some new friends.
Then off to Mozambique where Liz McManus treated me to a delightful supper in the naval club. The seminar had not been prompted as well here bit the quality audience of only 7 included 4 people from Rio Tinto whom I had done medicals on last time I was in Maputo in September last year!! Definitely need to consider setting up Occupational health services in Maputo.
Strategic: Based on the HR meeting with is now published in the magazine HR Director, I have designed with Phil Dias of Karma Creative a new promotional PDF – based on the idea of Number one as a Health Navigator. In next few weeks we will have a top team meeting to review our Balanced Business Scorecard.
Financial: Favourable result from Inland Revenue with a rebate! Well done Usman and Cartwright’s. Have plugged a key financial gap by getting us work during our quiet periods (October to December) vaccinating school girls for Ealing and Wandsworth Primary Trusts.
Marketing: Have learned can do loads more with Linked In and need to find the time to do this.
Innovation: Our Facebook sites and Twitter are now within the website. We have launched our You Tube channel with its first video. www.youtube.com/numberonehealth. I love the Flip Video device.
Best Business Reads this month: Robert Heller downloads and I finally got around to reading ‘In Search Of Excellence’ (Peters and Waterman) and that has inspired me with a book idea (more later).
Best past business reads:
Jack Welch ‘Straight from the Gut’ and with Suzy Welch on Winning. First, Break all the rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of Gallup ISBN-13 978-0-684-85286-7
Quote of the month: 'Marketing is an approach to business rather than a specialist discipline. It is no more the exclusive responsibility of the marketing department than profitability is the sole charge of the finance department.'
'There is no such thing as a marketing skill by itself. For a company to be good at marketing, it must be good at everything else from R&D to manufacturing, from quality controls to financial controls.'
Howard Morganis, past chairman of Procter and Gamble
Charity of the month: Rwanda Survivors www.equityforafrica.org and KIVA www.kiva.org but this has no health projects – why?
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External:
We have recruited 2 excellent new team members. Welcome Vanessa Hallick and Gemma Cannon! Vanessa heads up our outside vaccines for Primary Care Trusts and Flu vaccines on business sites. Gemma currently is in reception. Both came from the agency May and Stephens and we are really impressed with the candidates. Ms Kristina Evangelou returns on 1st October from extended maternity leave as Practice Manager. The excellent Ms Avril Bunton-Williams stays on with an HR and a Project management role to cover our increasing NHS Primary Care Trust work and other items.
I have done 2 team appraisals in the last month and found the experience very rewarding. It is great to have such a fantastic team.
Operations:
I was amazed a few weeks ago to realise that for Swine flu/H1N1 Yahoo is more up to date than both WHO and the Health Protection Agency! I worked with City HR and Simmons and Simmons on a breakfast seminar for HR managers on the subject and this went well – we do another event on 10th of September.
I have had 2 trips to Africa since the last blog.
One week in Rwanda in July
Dr Jane Hill works with Rwanda Aid and works for free in Rwanda and pays the salary of a doctor Chris from the Congo. Jane was the host for myself and UK nurse Uma Fernandes. She was a great host and we visited 3 clinics. At first, Uma and I did wonder what we could contribute but over time we realised we could help train local medical staff (doctor/nurse) on basic primary care issues.
The Rwanda clinics had very good record keeping and most basic drugs but patients were not examined as often as I thought they should be (the least a medical can do in a resource poor area is look at and examine the patient!). It was also a shame that they do not have access to the latest simple diagnostic tests for HIV and malaria and so many patients are over-treated and no-one every knows what was really wrong with them!
Day 1 Nkombo Island (in the Congo. 16000 inhabitants – very poor!)
Day 2 Bugarama (the most ill people we saw)
Day 3 Banda in the forest
The pathology seen included:
HIV and associated nervous system destruction
Filariasis
Possible Tuberculosis
Probable Trachoma conjunctivitis
Balinitis
Parkinson’s (I donated some money for this guy to get new clothes)
Warts, herpes, Chlamydia (all in the same man!)
Malaria
Dental abscess
Thyroglossal cyst
Burn
Pleurisy of unknown cause
I donated my Optylse for opthalmoscopy and sphygmomanometer.
Rwanda reminded me that as I see it:
Quality in primary care is made up of:
Dignity and respect for patients
Physician listens examines and uses best available laboratory resources
Has essential drug kit
Has optimal equipment
Explains diseases and treatment
Hands out patient information
Gets feedback from peers and from patients
Physician has Continuing Professional Development Programme
Integrates with best of local health and welfare systems
Uses Education, Information and communication in public health
Have a look at the Rwanda video which will soon be uploaded to www.youtube.com/numberonehealth
My next trip to Africa was for the British Council in Botswana and Mozambique. I have not been to Botswana sine Raleigh International in 1994 and then I was 3 months in the gorgeous Okovango Delta (JP and Clive are still great mates from that period). Gabarone is now more famous since Jill Scott acts as the Number One lady detective. Rasina met me at the airport and the man is a star. He had me featured in 2 local papers, interviewed for a third and a slot on Botswana National TV. My subject matter was management and occupational health with the core message that HIV should now be treated as any other chronic illness. The audience of 50 plus were superb and we had some great discussion and I think I made some new friends.
Then off to Mozambique where Liz McManus treated me to a delightful supper in the naval club. The seminar had not been prompted as well here bit the quality audience of only 7 included 4 people from Rio Tinto whom I had done medicals on last time I was in Maputo in September last year!! Definitely need to consider setting up Occupational health services in Maputo.
Strategic: Based on the HR meeting with is now published in the magazine HR Director, I have designed with Phil Dias of Karma Creative a new promotional PDF – based on the idea of Number one as a Health Navigator. In next few weeks we will have a top team meeting to review our Balanced Business Scorecard.
Financial: Favourable result from Inland Revenue with a rebate! Well done Usman and Cartwright’s. Have plugged a key financial gap by getting us work during our quiet periods (October to December) vaccinating school girls for Ealing and Wandsworth Primary Trusts.
Marketing: Have learned can do loads more with Linked In and need to find the time to do this.
Innovation: Our Facebook sites and Twitter are now within the website. We have launched our You Tube channel with its first video. www.youtube.com/numberonehealth. I love the Flip Video device.
Best Business Reads this month: Robert Heller downloads and I finally got around to reading ‘In Search Of Excellence’ (Peters and Waterman) and that has inspired me with a book idea (more later).
Best past business reads:
Jack Welch ‘Straight from the Gut’ and with Suzy Welch on Winning. First, Break all the rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of Gallup ISBN-13 978-0-684-85286-7
Quote of the month: 'Marketing is an approach to business rather than a specialist discipline. It is no more the exclusive responsibility of the marketing department than profitability is the sole charge of the finance department.'
'There is no such thing as a marketing skill by itself. For a company to be good at marketing, it must be good at everything else from R&D to manufacturing, from quality controls to financial controls.'
Howard Morganis, past chairman of Procter and Gamble
Charity of the month: Rwanda Survivors www.equityforafrica.org and KIVA www.kiva.org but this has no health projects – why?
Friday, 3 July 2009
June 2009
June 2009
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External: Our new admin assistant is now helping email and mail out databases and this should see an increase in new business enquiries.
At lunch the other day I took the chance to give my card to one of the key hedge fund players and would love to be involved with his charity, ARK. Mid-week we closed clinic for a whole morning and had team-building day based on some of the lessons I learned from Peter Kennedy on his Business Leadership Course (www.theleadershipchallenge.co.uk) – went really well and we all got to know each other better as well as appreciating attitudes that supported each other versus those that do not.
Operations: Planning for my talks to HIV clinic managers in Botswana and Rwanda end August/start July. Had brief meeting Monday 8th June about my one week stint in Rwanda at the end of July, followed by an excellent briefing where staff form the Rwanda Embassy explained how much they appreciated the programme and the amazing Mary K Blewitt OBE told us about her charity and investigative journalist Linda Melvern (www.lindamelvern.co.uk) clarified how well planned the genocide was (shocking now and forever!). In July we also have meets with Centrica and AXA PPP OHS and other existing clients.
Strategic: To Mac or not to Mac! Changing the whole office will cost a lot of money but I am convinced save money over time on maintenance costs. Watch this space. Monday 25th June key event with HR Director went really well – it was a roundtable hosted by myself and Dentist Simon Darfoor (also in 1 Harley Street). We all learned loads about the gap between NHS provision and PMI and many companies could benefit form a sensible ‘medical broker’. It has also become clear that the case should be made for ad-hoc health spending as a business cost versus time saved.
Financial: Ticking along nicely despite the recession. We are winning back some of our market share on the visa medicals. Have another enquiry from a PCT re the cervical cancer vaccine programme in girls 12-18. This is government funded but we as a private provider give the vaccinations and charge accordingly.
Marketing: Mail outs to doctors and engineering firms all in one week. The key event was the HR Roundtable. Have followed up several prospects this week and received some encouraging replies. Am surprised by the lack of interest in anti-virals. Am considering promotional activity with www.circa-club.co.uk , www.velvet-club.co.uk two of the UK’s biggest gay sites and off to an event tonight.
Innovation: Before the end of the year we will host an event on the ‘Health solutions for mobile workforce’.
Best Business Reads this month: Investment Biker by Jim Rogers (he set up the Quantum Fund with George Soros). The Naked Manager by Robert Heller from 1985 good points re marketing and management, which I believe Al and Laura Ries take up in their new book.
Best past business reads: Am a great fan of Jim Collins ‘Good to Great’ and ‘Built to last’.
Quote of the month: ‘The Sixth Truth of Management lays down that there are only two possibilities: either an executive is competent to run the business or he is not. In the first instance, leave him alone. In the second, move him.’ Heller (The Naked Manager)
Charity of the month: www.transplantlinks.org
Dr Charlie Easmon
Business Blog
People Internal/External: Our new admin assistant is now helping email and mail out databases and this should see an increase in new business enquiries.
At lunch the other day I took the chance to give my card to one of the key hedge fund players and would love to be involved with his charity, ARK. Mid-week we closed clinic for a whole morning and had team-building day based on some of the lessons I learned from Peter Kennedy on his Business Leadership Course (www.theleadershipchallenge.co.uk) – went really well and we all got to know each other better as well as appreciating attitudes that supported each other versus those that do not.
Operations: Planning for my talks to HIV clinic managers in Botswana and Rwanda end August/start July. Had brief meeting Monday 8th June about my one week stint in Rwanda at the end of July, followed by an excellent briefing where staff form the Rwanda Embassy explained how much they appreciated the programme and the amazing Mary K Blewitt OBE told us about her charity and investigative journalist Linda Melvern (www.lindamelvern.co.uk) clarified how well planned the genocide was (shocking now and forever!). In July we also have meets with Centrica and AXA PPP OHS and other existing clients.
Strategic: To Mac or not to Mac! Changing the whole office will cost a lot of money but I am convinced save money over time on maintenance costs. Watch this space. Monday 25th June key event with HR Director went really well – it was a roundtable hosted by myself and Dentist Simon Darfoor (also in 1 Harley Street). We all learned loads about the gap between NHS provision and PMI and many companies could benefit form a sensible ‘medical broker’. It has also become clear that the case should be made for ad-hoc health spending as a business cost versus time saved.
Financial: Ticking along nicely despite the recession. We are winning back some of our market share on the visa medicals. Have another enquiry from a PCT re the cervical cancer vaccine programme in girls 12-18. This is government funded but we as a private provider give the vaccinations and charge accordingly.
Marketing: Mail outs to doctors and engineering firms all in one week. The key event was the HR Roundtable. Have followed up several prospects this week and received some encouraging replies. Am surprised by the lack of interest in anti-virals. Am considering promotional activity with www.circa-club.co.uk , www.velvet-club.co.uk two of the UK’s biggest gay sites and off to an event tonight.
Innovation: Before the end of the year we will host an event on the ‘Health solutions for mobile workforce’.
Best Business Reads this month: Investment Biker by Jim Rogers (he set up the Quantum Fund with George Soros). The Naked Manager by Robert Heller from 1985 good points re marketing and management, which I believe Al and Laura Ries take up in their new book.
Best past business reads: Am a great fan of Jim Collins ‘Good to Great’ and ‘Built to last’.
Quote of the month: ‘The Sixth Truth of Management lays down that there are only two possibilities: either an executive is competent to run the business or he is not. In the first instance, leave him alone. In the second, move him.’ Heller (The Naked Manager)
Charity of the month: www.transplantlinks.org
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