Week 28: Research on sea
This week was dominated by research trips to pharmacies in seaside towns in the East of England, including 5 on-seas.
We visited 10 different pharmacies, speaking to the pharmacists and staff about their experiences giving people the new RSV vaccine and using our digital Record a vaccination service.
It was hugely informative, and proved the value of doing in-person user research. Not only did we get to speak to people who would likely never have time to take part in a scheduled Teams call, but we also got to see and learn lots about the wider context.
No digital service exists within a vacuum, and especially not within the NHS. The pharmacists were only too keen to show us the plethora of digital services they’re required to use, each with their own logins, quirks and annoyances.
We also got to see the ABRYSVO® vaccine itself, and heard about the process of preparing it. After months of talking about the RSV vaccine and getting our service ready to support it, seeing it in the wild was quite a thrill.
As pharmacies are independent businesses, there was also much to learn about how they order stock and receive payment for the NHS services they provide. The money side is handled by the NHS Business Services Authority, a separate organisation from NHS England. But of course, it all needs to join up and we should be working together to solve a whole problem for these pharmacists.
One of the things I always look out for on these research trips are the workarounds, print-outs and other methods people use to get things done. These are often “tells” of where the digital systems aren’t as usable or joined-up as they should be, forcing people to find their own solutions. And yep, we saw some of these. Spreadsheets are the unsung glue of the workforce.
I gave everyone we spoke to one of our RSV vaccine mission patch stickers, which were mostly received with enthusiasm but occasionally with complete bewilderment.
We sadly didn’t have time to stroll along the piers of either Clacton or Southend, but we did get to eat a truly excellent fish and chips.
I came back from the two days of research with tired feet (and it was very cold!) but with pages and pages of notes and observations. We’ll be going through these over the coming days and then presenting back our findings to both our team and others.
Big thanks to my colleague James for organising and leading the trip, and to Anna for sharing the note-taking duties.
I’m off to Paris for the weekend with the kids. Looking forward to Christmas markets and a trip up the Eiffel Tower!