Kelly Archer, Managing Consultant and Head of Public Sector

It’s a funny old time. Earlier this summer, we emerged from lockdown and felt, to some extent, we were back to a sense of normality. But with large swathes of the UK back on lockdown, the rest of us are hovering in a no man’s land. The most vulnerable are still shielding, we are wearing masks to do our shopping, social distancing is standard practice, many of us are working from home and will continue to do so for the foreseeable. This has become our normal. For me – working as a change management consultant for P2 – that new normal has brought some new opportunities and challenges that I had expected and some which I had not.

I have written recently about how the NHS needs to adapt in the post pandemic environment – how it needs to be able to cope with backlogs in diagnosis and treatment, whilst maintaining business as usual (BAU). But it’s not just the NHS. Lots of public sector organisations are grappling to adapt to this new environment and continue to meet the needs of their service users. I have ended up working with a social services team to do just that and we’re working together to find out:

• How they can reach more people that might need them in this challenging time
• How they become less reliant on government funding
• How they deliver safe support to vulnerable adults
• How they can diversify income.

Redesigning services to become more self-sustaining

It’s been some of the most rewarding work of my career. And it’s been fascinating to discover opportunities to deliver public services that are more closely aligned to the communities they serve and to shine a light on the talents of the key workers that drive them. We have had a chance to redesign services to help them become more self-sustaining, help them to continuously improve and giving them an independent direction and the chance to be masters of their own destiny. For them, the future is looking bright.

If anyone else out there is facing similar challenges please drop me a line. It might be a cliché, but I would love to help you think outside the box, be creative, be proactive and help put you in the driving seat of your organisation’s future.

To find out how P2 has helped public sector organisations in the police, NHS, social services, education and local government to change, please get in touch.