There are few things that can cheer me up more than a good performance from Newcastle FC. Other people saying nice things about Medequip staff and the organisation come pretty high on that list. So, I was over the moon after a few days spent at the November 2022 ADASS and ADCS conference in Manchester.
Thanks to the partners we have been working with, we made the shift from being Exhibitors to being Listeners, and it is amazing how much more you find out when you set out to listen. Especially when you include some of those partners and people with experience of using services as part of your “listening team”.
We heard from people we are working with how grateful they were for our efforts to keep things going, despite the pandemic and the global supply issues.
We heard from people we are not working with how interested they were in the clinical and community developments we are working on.
We heard from a lot of people running their own in-house services how they were moving from surprise, to curiosity and on to consideration, of the Medequip and Community Catalysts project offer to Share the Journey.
And along with most of the attendees, we heard that despite the many issues facing us, the #socialcarefuture vison is a powerful, engaging and compelling call to action.
The Medequip team who attended the British Association of Supported Employment conference in Leeds had a great response too.
It makes perfect sense to us to be a great and inclusive place to work; it makes things better for everyone. So, it was lovely to have people complimenting us on the culture of the organisation, the employment opportunities we have created for people facing barriers and the systems we are putting in place to report on our progress.
Could I get away with a football terrace chant in praise of Medequip?
Best not. Leave it to others to sing our praises.
We’ve still got a lot of work to do.
But I’m determined that we will enjoy, and Share the Journey.