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Having lived for a while in the South of France I think I know a good Bouillabaisse when I come across it.
It’s tricky to make. It needs subtle things like leeks and orange peel. Pernod and saffron, as well as a good mix of fresh fish.
There’s a little trick they use, adding a potato or two for thickening and as an indicator, the broth is cooked.
I must say I didn’t expect to find it as well brewed as I did, in a tiny restaurant just outside Newcastle, Jaspers Bistro, Amble.
I shouldn’t have been. It’s a proper fishing town, with a harbour and tiny boats that venture into the wilds of the North Sea… to bring home ‘a little fishy, in a little dishy’.
There is something about excellence. You can never be sure where you’ll find it. It should be something that’s universal. We know, it never is.
The pursuit of excellence is the work of a life time and has certainly been the north star, for the last ten years, for the Academy of Fabulous Stuff.
Most organisations work at a level of performance which we might regard as their mean. They deviate above it, into what is called positive deviance, below is negative.
Negative deviance is what the CQC look for. In plain English, things that are wrong, failure and bad… and that is why, since 2009 and well north of half a £billion, they’ve failed to move the dial on quality or made the NHS any safer. They never will.
Positive deviance is a different kettle of fish.
Positive deviance, or better still, positive-deviants, are people who, no matter where they are, whatever the constraints of resource or circumstance, will find a better way to do something.
These fabulous people are the building-blocks of the Academy. They laid the simple foundation that says, show people what good looks like and they’ll get on and do it… often, even better.
It really isn’t rocket science, but there is a science behind it…
… it focuses on identifying and learning from individuals or teams within an organisation who are already achieving exceptional results despite facing similar challenges.
Unlike politicians who believe they can achieve better by boo-hooing ‘everything is broken’.
There must be something in the air in Newcastle because there is a whiff of excellence about the place.
If the Academy shared the recipe for fish soup Jasper’s would be on their website. Very likely too, the local gin would find a mention as would the beaches… and certainly, the fabulous Newcastle hospitals.
The preoccupation of Covid and a later punch-up with my squatter had taken me off the road for far too long. What better place to get back into the swing of excellence than a visit to the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
The Royal Vic’ can trace its roots back to 1751 and today is still expanding, still doing well and is a breeding ground for positive deviance.
I met innovator after innovator.
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The team who created a picture-book explanation for children with inflammatory bowel disease. Very complex for the kids and families.
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Something as simple as how to swallow tablets, right first time, every time. You’d be surprised how many can’t do it and the cost of prescribing alternative delivery mechanisms.
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Sharing quality initiatives in a large complex organisation. Most diffusion theories don’t work.
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Reducing A&E presentations by children, the second biggest users of the service… with a clever app, they managed 8%.
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At the other end of life, the new frailty team realising solutions are to be found by getting to grips with the overlap between community, primary and hospital services.
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Atypical haemolytic uraemia syndrome, I met the global leaders in the treatment of this complex condition.
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A stunning array of colorectal innovations to make life easier and more secure and
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A new approach to using anaesthetic blocs to make absolutely spectacular reductions in theatre time and turn around and why it's not standard, I'll never know.
The details will all be appearing on the Fab website.
Exceptional people, doing exceptional things to solve the exceptionally difficult challenges the NHS faces every day.
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Things to be proud of,
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Things to boast about,
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Things to copy and do better.
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Little things that, if it's about you, are the big things and
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Big things that are so big they change lives around the world.
All the ingredients of the RVI’s five-star, menu-of-excellence.
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A wonderful visit and thank you to everyone who made time for us, on top of the day job.
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