Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust (PCT) sexual health service teams work across the whole of the Birmingham area. While they operate quite effectively in their own individual areas, there was room to improve and increase interaction and communication among them.

Sharon Myring, Head of Sexual Health for Heart of Birmingham PCT, and other senior PCT managers, saw a real missed opportunity here. They believed, quite rightly, that if individual teams got to know each other better, they might be much more likely to share their knowledge and experience, to the benefit of all.

"The teams weren’t really helping each other and certainly weren’t realising the potential that could be achieved through greater co-operation," said Sharon. "But that was mainly down to the fact that they had little personal contact and didn’t know each other well on a personal level."

"On MRD’s recommendation we took all our Service Managers out of their working environment and off to a hotel for the day," Sharon pointed out. "MRD did a great job of facilitating the various discussions and activities, and we have had exceptionally positive feedback from team members as a result. At least one person is, in fact, continuing to work with MRD on a one-to-one basis with the aim of improving their team working skills."

Among many who felt they gained some real benefits from the day was SAFE Project Manager, Susan Taylor, who said, "It gave me a great perspective…I can now see a way forward where there didn’t appear to be one before."

Cathie Hill, Lead Nurse at Family Planning said "I thought this day highlighted just what a dynamic team we are, that our strengths and ‘weaknesses’ make us potentially capable great achievement.

And Siobhan McDonald, PA to Sharon Myring, commented, "I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would strongly recommend MR Dynamics to any NHS service or other organisation."

In summary, Sharon Myring said, "Everyone involved thought the day was a great success and was very impressed with MRD. It was a major step forward but it’s now important that we maintain the momentum and build on what we’ve achieved so far. So we hope to organise many more team ‘away days’ with MRD."