Tribute by Lara Blake

I first had the privilege of meeting John in 2018 when I was working for Hampshire and IOW Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as a Project Manager leading the rollout of Personal Health Budgets within NHS Continuing Healthcare.  I invited John to be a part of our PHB Steering Group and work with me and the team to redesign some of our documentation and processes.

I had never worked directly with service users at this point in my career and was a little nervous and very inexperienced.  I remember feeling very in awe of John and his knowledge and experience and wanted very much to impress him.  John was very kind and patient, and I quickly grew very fond of him and used to look forward to seeing him at our Steering Group meetings.  Our connection grew as we formed the Hampshire CHC co-production group, and our monthly meetings would be a highlight for me and others in my team.  John had a way of making everyone in his presence feel welcome and relaxed and his passion and commitment to personalisation was inspiring to me from our first meeting.  Our group really came into its own during Covid when we began meeting virtually and our work focused on ways that we could offer support and guidance to PHB holders during what was a terrifying and uncertain time. I am very proud of the work that we did together during this period and believe we made a difference to lots of people.

I learnt so much from John and between us and other members of our group we have been able to influence positive change within Hampshire Continuing Care and more recently, All Age Continuing Care.  This work continues with John very much in our thoughts and I am delighted that Jana is now joining us and continuing John’s legacy.

On a personal note, the first thing I think of when I think of John is his kind and thoughtful nature. Regardless of what was happening in his life, John always found time to ask after me and my family and was genuinely interested in me as a person. I valued John’s friendship very much and was honoured to have played a very small part in his incredible journey.  I often think of John with a smile; he is missed by so very many people.

Lara Blake

Head of Business Development

All Age Continuing Care

Hampshire and IOW Integrated Care Board

 

Lara
Lara

 

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