Accomplice, your first resource

Nicky Spencer

Nicky Spencer established her consultancy in March 1999, primarily working with organisations in health and social care. The consultancy provided a dedicated and focused management resource, bringing together organisations, teams and professionals to identify and achieve their goals.

In Spring 2007, Nicky extended her business to launch accomplice with the aim of increasing the range of approaches and support available, thereby ensuring more clients are more equipped to realise more of their ambitions.

Client Base

With a wide-ranging client base across healthcare, the consultancy’s portfolio also extended to local authorities (often in multi-agency projects) as well as direct delivery to the voluntary sector.

Clients (1999-2006) included:

Amber Valley PCT; Bolton Borough Council; Broxtowe and Hucknall PCT; Central Sheffield University Hospitals; Connecting for Health; Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire PCT; East Lincolnshire PCT; Eastern Leicester PCT; the Institute of Healthcare Management; Leicester City Council (Health and Social Care); Leicester City West PCT; Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland Strategic Health Authority; Nottingham City Council (Social Care); Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust; University Hospital Nottingham NHS Trust (Queen’s Medical Centre); NHS Direct Greater Manchester; NHS Direct East Midlands; Nottingham Teaching PCT; Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust; Trent Strategic Health Authority; Trent SHA’s Training Information Network; United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust; and Coventry, Warwick and South Derbyshire Voluntary Service Councils.

Typical Assignments

Some of the assignments successfully delivered by the consultancy are detailed below and demonstrate how Nicky used her expert business skills to benefit different organisations and individuals.

Career Management
  • Career sessions and ’speed coaching’ for regional and national conferences of the Institute of Healthcare Management (2002-2007)
  • Design of career:accomplice, an interactive career planning manual to assist managers to review, establish and progress their own careers (2006-7)
  • Personal career coaching - at all levels from executives to operational staff - to ensure they secured new roles, confirmed their career path, updated their CVs, and were better prepared for selection (2000-2007).
Consultancy
  • Identified the preferred option for managing a School Nursing Service across five Primary Care Trusts (2003)
  • A GP Recruitment and Retention Model was designed for a Teaching Primary Care Trust (2006)
  • Assessment of user-involvement in an NHS Modernisation Council comprising 200 patients, carers and operational staff (2001).
Marketing
  • A strategy, strategy implementation and marketing plan for Specialist Children’s Health Community Services (2005-2007)
  • A two-day training programme Marketing in the NHS for managers, re-commissioned several times since (2006-7)
  • A Communications Strategy for a national membership organisation with the full range of stakeholders involved - from the press to regional leads (2004).
Project Management
  • A service model and project plan for delivering ten city-based clinical intermediate care beds in Leicester (2004)
  • An implementation plan for managing the re-structuring of family and child social care in a local authority (2002)
  • Increased operating space at marginal costs through the introduction of a three-session day in 16 theatres (2000).
Strategy
  • A strategy for medicines’ management for a PCT, drawing in views of General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists (2005)
  • A Leadership Strategy to co-ordinate leadership development across a Strategic Health Authority, using tele-research to solicit the range of perspectives (2005)
  • A nursing strategy (2003) and facilitation of the first review of its implementation plan (2005).
Teamwork
  • A Community Rehabilitation Team re-energised, using the Team Assessment Tool to trigger development (2004)
  • Commitment and ownership in over 40 staff to the outcomes of a Best Value Review for their department in a borough council (2004)
  • Review of management teams in two different NHS Direct sites, ensuring confluence of roles and optimum outputs (2001/2).
Training & Coaching
  • Increased expertise and confidence in over 400 NHS staff through facilitated training and personal coaching in all aspects of planning - from service and organisational strategies through to project and career management (1999-2007)
  • Increased managerial potential in over 100+ voluntary sector staff through the provision of training in negotiation, recruitment, presentation, team-building, report-writing etc. (1999-2005)
  • The design of a Training Model (and Audit Tool) was facilitated to increase patient and public skills within the NHS Workforce (2005-6)
  • £100,000 secured for a Management Development Initiative across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire (2004).

Previous Experience

Prior to establishing her consultancy, Nicky Spencer worked within a range of public and voluntary sector organisations.

An early career in local authority and voluntary sector settings gave Nicky the opportunity to spearhead a number of innovations in human resources, training, social care and research.
Increasing her skill base, these appointments provided both insights into a range of organisations, structures and cultures, as well as essential experience in working with a variety of people from board members to community groups. All add to the understanding and ease with which Nicky is able to progress partnerships and collaborative ventures.

Local Authority & Voluntary Sector Achievements (1980s)

Improved recruitment and retention strategies within a local authority, by devising a graduate recruitment scheme and recommending changes to working conditions.

Built the social action arm of a community-based church by designing social surveys and working with volunteers to set up projects to meet identified local social care needs.

Informed national opinion on alternatives to custodial care for young offenders by designing and presenting research findings on a community-based project for a national charity.

Increased work prospects for the young unemployed by creating the personnel and job search schemes for a 500+ place ‘youth opportunity’ training scheme.

Moving into the health sector, Nicky broadened her experience through the joint planning arena and made invaluable contacts within the NHS. As a senior manager, she was responsible for a wide portfolio of projects.

Liaison between colleagues, teams and partner organisations was frequently required in the design and delivery of collaborative projects and strategies within tight, predetermined schedules and budgets.

NHS Achievements (1990s)

Incorporated the views of over 20 public, voluntary and business organisations, to produce Nottingham’s first Health Improvement Programme that declared their contributions to improving health and health services for the district’s 600,000 population.

Piloted the first performance agreement and mid-year health community review by the NHS Regional Office, to ensure an effective performance management process was designed for Trent’s 10 health communities.

Led and evaluated the first ‘Leaders in Health’ development programme for 12 senior managers in Trent, to increase the pool of leaders available to the NHS and provide a blueprint for future programmes.

Consulted with partner organisations to formulate the Health Strategy for Nottingham which outlined the agreed direction for Nottingham’s NHS services.

Developed the Nottingham Information Management & Technology Outline Business Case, to explore the potential for 6 major NHS organisations and 115 General Practitioners to share technological solutions.

Engaged over 100 hospital staff to agree a common vision for ‘quality’ within a major teaching hospital in Nottingham, which incorporated sharing good practice and the potential for owned, consistent, quality standards for their services.