23 March 2015 marked the one year anniversary of day that the World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak. The disease has taken the lives of over 10,000 men, women and children in west Africa. At the Department of Health …
When you’re limited to 140 characters, can a twitter chat truly be an effective policy engagement tool? Based on my recent experience of a twitter chat with @wenurses, as part of our engagement around the proposed Vulnerable Older People’s Plan, …
Here at the Department of Health, we always need to be ready in case of a health emergency. For example, last year we published our strategy for how we would communicate if there is another flu pandemic. As a part …
On 9 May, I set up @DHmonitoring (now @DHlistening) and the response to this twitter account has been a really interesting (unintended) insight. We set up the account to follow a list of people talking about health policy and the …
There are many guidelines for using social media on the web (see Online conversations and your responsibilities as a civil servant). For DH staff, below are some simple tips that the digital team would recommend you consider before using social …
I’m often asked about social media strategies, whether DH has one, what our Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest etc strategy is. The short answer to this is we don’t have a stand-alone social media strategy, and there is a good reason for this. The …
Digital isn’t just about publishing anymore. The Department of Health (DH) digital team certainly knows that, but there are plenty of people within the department – and across government – still to be convinced of the wider benefits of digital, …
Two years is a long time in the digital world. So when I came to work in the Department of Health (DH) digital team after a career break of 2 years, I felt like I had a lot of catching …
This is a blog about how information enters my head before 9am on weekdays. My day is generally internet free until after I've had my toast and coffee. I very rarely slide to unlock while I'm still in the house …
Social media is mainstream media now. It is commonplace for influential individuals to use Twitter to share ideas, offer first-hand comment, and build networks of influence. Effective use of social media like Twitter is central to the DH digital communication …
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