I have been to NHS EXPO today. As always it was great to meet lots of people I have met and worked with over a number of years; I love seeing them, giving them a hug and re-connecting with them (you all know who you are). It is one of the privileges of my working life that I have met so many fabulous people.

Today was interesting for me as I didn’t go to EXPO in my professional capacity but in a personal one, as someone who has an interest in digital innovation but from the perspective of a citizen and patient and today felt very different – but is it EXPO that has changed or me?

Today I briefly presented with Victoria Betton and Mark Brown the work we have done on People Driven Digital and the PDD Awards (HT to the others too Michael Seres, Kat McComack). I realised that I had changed from a year ago.

I spent many years as a nurse giving patients advice and information. We thought it was the right thing to do and of course it is but it’s also paternalistic, based on the assumption that ‘we’ know and ‘they’ don’t.

Over the last year my experiences of working in collaboration with other people like my fellow collaborators for #PDDigital, and many others in my social network with Diabetes, has made me realise that the system doesn’t know what problems people face as intimately as they do. We can make assumptions, we can guess and in doing so we may well get it wrong; we may hit the target and miss the point. Mark spoke eloquently today (you can read what he said here http://thenewmentalhealth.org/?p=182 and it’s well worth a read) about focussing on trying to find digital solutions to those issues that really matter to people, not necessarily the big things but those that in people’s lives make a real difference. You can see our presentation here

So today, whilst I wandered around EXPO, I reflected on what felt ‘real’ and what maybe mattered the most. There was little evidence of people driving solutions and creating ideas and I realised I had changed. I have come to realise that unless we engage at the start with the citizens, we are unlikely to make the differences we need to make. We might create elaborate solutions but may completely miss the point. We need People Driven Digital Innovation.

I have an example: I was a grateful receiver of a new insulin pump a few months ago. It has a snazzy screen and some new functionality that means if you are a user of a continuous glucose monitor (I am not funded to be one) then it will switch off the delivery of insulin if your blood glucose goes too low – very clever indeed. But what was it that delighted me when I collected my pump? On my old pump, in order to access the battery to replace it (yes insulin pump are powered by a traditional AA battery!!) I had to carry a 20p coin in my bag. It’s the only reliable way to be able to open the battery space – it’s tricky but fairly crucial to be able to get in! On my new pump there is a removable clip that had a snazzy little device on the end that enables you to open the battery space. A simple remoulding of the clip – inexpensive and functional – I know, I know, so simple – but it was the snazzy solution for the battery opener that delighted me. A small but delightful improvement and now I don’t worry about 20p pieces. Let’s try focussing on the small things that might matter to people.

How do you think we could develop the ideas from #PDDigital? Let us know.