Guess what, an acronym again: MPRM! Let me do a little quiz… who knows what this acronym means? Any suggestions?
First of all, for the Dutch people, an acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. Usually these components are individual letters or parts of words or names (Dutch=afkorting).
Seriously, I think I haven’t heard this many acronyms as for today. I realise we, the Dutchies, also use a lot of acronyms, but of course, these are easier to understand. Maybe it is a healthcare thing to shorten the words? Or is it because we are always busy and believe we even have to speak faster? Something to think about…
Anyway, the MPRM is the Monthly Performance Review Meeting. We had one for the urgent and clinical care group and one for the diagnostics and therapies group. Interesting meetings, both again very structured, mannered and polite meetings. If I have to compare, our meetings are mostly a bit more chaotic, especially the ones in the Facilities. The groups reflected upon five key themes; quality & outcome, performance & assesment, finance & efficiency, workforce & development and group priorities. And, apart from the acronyms, I got a bright and clear overview of the performance of these clinical groups. It was nice to hear the ‘higher management’ ask the ‘lower management’ (sorry for these awful words!) the same question over and over again: how can we support you on this, what can we do to help?
The NHS (another acronym) is terrible for its acronyms. Even after 25 years in the NHS there are many I hear and don’t know what they mean. My philosophy is just ask as chances are there are another 5 people who are thinking the same thing!