Episodes
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For episode 53 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by the Centre for Mental Health’s CEO, Andy Bell, to speak about the government’s approach to mental health and care, reforming the Mental Health Act, and how the short, medium and long-term future of the NHS looks.
Speaking on some of the NHS’s future plans and goals, Andy highlighted the importance of people being willing to change. The current service model is not going to be suitable forever, he added, in fact it does not even suit the population now – at least for certain groups of people.
“That does have to shift and co-design is one way of doing that and indeed co-production of care,” he said. “We’ve seen many examples of the some of the most exciting ways of providing mental health support over the last few years have been developed within communities.”
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For episode 52 of the National Health Executive podcast we were joined by National Voices’ CEO, Jacob Lant, to talk about the first weeks of the new government, his relationship so far with health secretary Wes Streeting, how Lord Darzi’s report should land, and the way forward for the third sector.
Speaking on what he wants to see over the course of this parliament, Jacob said: “A bit more forensic analysis on who is waiting longer – we know from previous research that it tends to be people living in the poorest communities in the country who wait longer, it tends to be ethnic minority individuals, it tends to be women, [and] people with disabilities.”
Helping people wait better and being smarter about those experiencing the worst outcomes is critical for Jacob.
He added that the biggest thing that charities can help the NHS with is being that connection into the community and the organisations that National Voices represents are not there to deliver services “on the cheap” but in fact to be a strategic partner.
Listen to the full episode to hear Jacob thoughts.
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Missing episodes?
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For episode 51 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Dan Rose, who is the medical director for UK and Ireland at Everlight Radiology, to explore the radiology workforce crisis, what solutions can be put in place to address the issues, and whether teleradiology can be the future for the sector.
On flexible working, Dan said that it is a key recommendation from the royal college that was accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added: “The additional benefits that brings is that it’s a recognition that the old ways of working – globally, not just in medicine, not just in radiology, but globally – have undergone a sea change essentially. Colleagues are much more aware of the ability to be able to work flexibly.”
Listen to the full podcast to learn more about how teleradiology and Everlight Radiology are creating a more sustainable workforce, the ‘follow the sun’ model’ and the three key takeaways for listeners.
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For episode 50 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Nicky Huskens, CEO at the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, to talk about everything from some of the recent investment being funnelled into the sector, to hopes for the future with the new Labour government.
Some of the funding includes the next stage in the government’s £40m pledge to develop new lifesaving research. That pledge was made by the previous Conservative government – on collaboration with the new government, Dr Huskens said: “I’ve spoken with the [DHSC] team before they came into power and they are big fans of the mission-led approach and the work that the brain tumour community has been doing
“I think going forward, in the first instance, will be working together with the civil servants to launch those three calls – the HP call, the consortium, the care call – and to do that really well and engage the community to participate. From there, I would say the sky is the limit!”
Listen to the full podcast to hear Dr Huskens’ thoughts on improving best practice sharing, the state of the neuro-oncology workforce, the importance of data in the sector, and more.
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For Episode 49 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by David Hemming, who is service lead for major programmes at NHS Shared Business Services. We spoke to David before our Estates online conference, where he featured on our Building the Hospitals of the Future panel.
We asked him about the NHS estate, Hospital 2.0, and the New Hospital Programme (NHP)—right before chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a pause to the NHP so it could undergo a “complete rest”.
“Many people are aware of the NHP, [but] there are different levels of understanding of what its actually going to deliver—there is still quite a lot of work to actually get that level of communication and stakeholder engagement out.”
He continued: “Part of this is [that] I’m bringing my knowledge of NHP. Do I have a complete and full knowledge of the NHP? I would say ‘no’ because it’s such a large programme—there are many different elements, but I’m also keen to understand, from other people’s perspective, what is their perception of the NHP [and] where do they think there are issues because that helps my understanding.” Knowing this can help NHS SBS modify their service offering.
Listen to the full podcast to hear David’s thoughts and stay tuned for National Health Executive’s next magazine edition for what the NHP pause could mean for the health system.
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For episode 48 of the National Health Executive podcast, we spoke to award-winning and internationally acclaimed broadcaster and journalist, Pete Price, about his life and experience with aversion therapy on the NHS. This episode contains explicit language and strong views
In the podcast, we explored how aversion therapy ties in with conversion therapy and what the Bill that has been making its way through parliament since last year means for the LGBTQ+ community and society as a whole.
Notably, the Bill was included in the King’s Speech this month, as it seems Sir Keir Starmer intends to press ahead with banning conversion practices.
“First of all, conversion therapy: I knew nothing about,” said Pete. “It’s reared its ugly head a few times, I’ve been on television and talked about it. Conversion therapy is where they brainwash you; aversion therapy is what they did to me, so that’s what we’re going to be talking about.”
In the podcast, Pete discusses his childhood, family and the period of time he spent in a ‘hospital’ undergoing aversion therapy.
He explained: “Growing up was very difficult for me because at the age of 12 I discovered I was a homosexual and didn’t understand it, didn’t know what it was about — all I knew was my pals were all going out with girls and I wasn’t.
“I wasn’t attracted to girls but I went out with girls, so I fought my sexuality; growing up I fought my sexuality because, in those days, I was a criminal — it was against the law to be a homosexual!”
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For episode 47 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Sue Holden, the CEO at the Advancing Quality Alliance — otherwise known as Aqua.
Sue spoke about her leadership philosophy, where that mindset comes from and the epiphanies she’s had while working in the NHS.
She said: “We can focus on the ‘what’ and forget the ‘how’ is where the magic happens, so — from my point of view — I’ve had the privilege to work with a lot of organisations in various different guises.
“Certainly when I was working with trusts that were really challenged, not one of those organisations didn’t have magic in it, didn’t have a brilliant service, didn’t have a team that was going above and beyond, and didn’t have people that were doing exciting things.”
There were also small pockets that needed support and the mark of a good leader is fostering an environment that enables the people who are struggling to access the help they need, explained Sue.
Sue also highlighted the four times in her career she has had an epiphany or “things that have really sat me back on my heels and made me rethink my own perspective” as she puts it.
“The first one was when I was a student nurse — that was back in the 80s...”
Listen to the full podcast to hear Sue’s insights and the pivotal moments in her career.
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In Episode 46 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Trish Greenhalgh, who is a professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford, as well as a former GP.
Trish offered insight into how the primary care digital transformation journey is going, specifically since the explosion of innovation observed following the pandemic.
Trish highlighted some of the recent research she has been doing in general practices looking at digitalised aspects of care that have in fact impacted disadvantaged people negatively, widening already existing health inequalities.
“The pandemic was a pretty big shock,” said Trish when explaining some of the theory around external shocks speeding up the innovation process.
She added: “We had to immediately, or in the space of a fortnight-three weeks, shift general practice from a face-to-face model to a remote model and I think it is one of the major achievements of general practice in this country that we did that — we did it really quickly and we did it effectively.
“We responded to the shock, and then the question is, ‘Well hang on a minute, what do we do now?’”
Listen in full to learn more about government priorities, co-design and more.
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For episode 45 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Nathalie Kingston, who is the director the National Institute for Health and Care Research BioResource.
Nathalie explained everything from the inner workings of the BioResource and the UK’s research ecosystem, all the way to women in science and the NIHR’s inclusion strategy.
On three things to remember, she said: “Make sure to listen to members of the public – their views are key. Also make sure we don’t lose sight of the fact we are safeguarding public data.”
To hear all of Nathalie’s insight, listen to the full podcast
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For episode 44 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Tom Bell, who has held management roles in the public, private and third sector – working specifically with the NHS in digital, telehealth and now as a patient safety partner.
Tom offered his insight into what patient safety actually means for the NHS, the make-up of the NHS when it comes to patient safety, how data can factor into decision-making, and what the future could/should look like.
“The lack of data in the NHS is criminal – if I wind you back through the mists of time, when I worked for Carlsberg at the turn of the century, we had access to lots of data about lots of things,” explained Tom.
He continued: “I could sit at my desk and download, in almost real time, who’d bought what, which accounts were up, which accounts were down, which were in profit etc. – that data was there. That was a company, albeit a large company and very well-run company, that was selling sugary alcoholic liquid…
“When I came into the NHS a number of years later, I remember saying to my director of strategy, ‘Where’s the dashboard I can access?’ and he looked at me as if I was speaking Swahili.”
Listen to the full podcast to learn more about the possibilities for the NHS.
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For episode 43 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Penny Kechagioglou, who is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. Penny spoke about the main challenges and opportunities in cancer care at the moment, as well as how should prevention factor in to policy decisions and the needs of the oncology workforce.
Penny said: “How do we strive for excellence? Not just good. There are three points here, so looking upstream – there is a lot of work happening that needs to be consistent across primary and secondary care, when it comes to prevention.”
Listen to the full episode to hear Penny’s thoughts and get a sneak peek of National Health Executive’s upcoming digital magazine, where Penny will detail the Charter for Oncology.
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In episode 42 of the National Health Executive podcast we were joined by Steve Gulati who is an associate professor at the University of Birmingham as well as director of healthcare leadership at the university’s Health Services Management Centre.
During the podcast, we discussed the difference between leadership when he first joined the NHS in the 90s and to now, plus the main levers for these changes. Steve also highlighted the ‘well-known truths’ about NHS leadership which are seldom voiced as well as what changes he would like to see in the future.
“Leadership in those days was almost synonymous with management – it certainly wasn’t [like] the nuanced distinctions that you get today,” said Steve. “Allied to that, there was a concept that was more prominent of what I would call ‘stewardship’ rather than leadership.”
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In episode 41 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Angela Smith, research fellow at Bournemouth University, and Andy Oakey, research fellow at the University of Southampton, to discuss the viability of drones within the NHS transport system.
Angela and Andy talked about some of the misinformation about drones and suggested that drone travel is not quite ready for the NHS yet.
Angela said: “The eDrone project has been focused on NHS case studies, but what we have found is that the reporting around these case studies – the trials in particular – has led to some misconceptions about what the trials are achieving and the future benefits of drones.”
Andy explained: “If you actually look back at our project bids, we were sucked into this rhetoric of drones being the next big thing. The original idea was to look at where’s best to use them [drones], with a positive spin, but as we have gone into it we have learnt more and understood how there is a lot more than meets the eye.”
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In episode 40 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Lee Carpenter, who is the head of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s UK Stem Cell Bank (UKSCB).
During the podcast, Lee explained what the UK Stem Cell Bank is and the significance of its work, what its future holds and some of the opportunities in the world of stem cell research.
Speaking on how big a role automation will play in the future of the stem cell field, Lee said: “I think it is going to be fairly critical. We can see the manufacturing of stem cells is hugely labour-intensive, it is expensive too.”
Lee goes onto explain how automation can widen patient access and eliminate human errors. Listen to the full podcast to hear more of Lee’s thoughts on the future of stem cells.
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In episode 39 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Anthony Painter, who is the director of policy at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), to discuss all things management within the UK health sector and NHS.
During the podcast, Anthony shared some of the recent research CMI conducted in partnership with the Social Market Foundation, which centred around the state of management and leadership within the NHS.
Anthony said: “One thing that was found [in the report] was that 27% of managers in the NHS think that the leadership in their organisation is not effective.
This is obviously very worrying, according to Anthony – especially because “research shows that, if you have above average leadership and management in your organisation, you’re far more likely, or three times more likely, to be a highly performing NHS organisation than if you have a less than average level”.
Anthony also discusses some of the calls for regulation of managers within the NHS, what makes a good NHS manager, and how senior leaders can go about recruiting the right way.
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In episode 38 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by divisional director at Rental+, Jon Steward, to discuss one of the foundational elements of any good health setting.
Rental+ offers the NHS cutting-edge foodservice and refrigeration equipment using a unique rental model.
Elaborating on the differences between this model and a typical procurement process, Jon explained: “First of all you just pay a monthly fee for the equipment; second of all, it is inclusive of service and maintenance – this is why the NHS loves this solution, because it reduces their capital outlay and gives them a fixed cost.”
This gives senior health leaders the peace of mind that sudden or hidden expenditures won’t wreak havoc with pre-determined budgets. A third point is that Rental+ guarantee the equipment will be working all the time.
Jon went onto say: “For healthcare executives considering Rental+, my key advice would be to view this as, not just a service, but as a partnership. We’ve worked with the NHS for so long – we’re not just a solution provider, we’re an extension of the trusts that we work with.”
Listen to the full podcast episode to hear more about how the NHS can benefit.
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In episode 37 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by the former chair of the National Institute for Health and Car Excellence, Sir David Haslam, to discuss the current state of the NHS and whether it needs to be rebooted.
During the podcast, David discussed the piece he and David Pendleton, professor of leadership at Henley Business School, authored for the National Health Executive magazine, where he argues that the UK health sector needs to focus its financial support on bolstering primary care and community care on the one side, and social care on the other.
David said: “We came up with this vision: if you think of the health system like a bookshelf, you’ve got the hospitals as the big books on the shelf, but if your bookends aren’t working effectively then everything tumbles down. And the bookends at one end are primary care; the other end is social care.
“If both of those aren’t supported then the whole system is going to fall apart.”
Listen to the full podcast to hear David’s thoughts on prevention, the UK’s health spending and more about how leaders can rebalance the NHS for the future.
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In episode 36 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Omnicell’s UK professional services director, Ed Platt, to discuss interoperability in the NHS, practical examples of where it can be leveraged best, the importance of the health service's digital transformation journey and more.
During the podcast, Ed discussed Omnicell’s provenance and how the mismanagement of medical supplies led to the company’s founding in 1992, which, to this day, galvanises them to continuously deliver innovations that help improve the standard of care in hospitals.
When asked about how Omnicell started, Ed explained: “That story is about our CEO, Randall Lipps… he was in hospital, his daughter was being treated and he was stood there and noticed that the clinicians were looking for the products – I think catheters and some other items – but they couldn’t find them.
“He then went off to his garage and started developing the first automated dispensing cabinet, brought that to market in 1992 and now we have over 2000 systems in the UK.
“That story, that observation, still stands true today.”
To listen to more about Omnicell's founding principles, how they are already helping the NHS and how they can further support the UK health sector, listen to the full podcast above.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In episode 35 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Professor Durka Dougall who is the chair of The Health Creation Alliance and Dr Andy Knox who is Associate Medical Director at Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
In the episode we spoke about population health, population health management, public health, health inequalities and everything in between. We also went into how all of the aforementioned phrases factor into combatting health inequalities.
The podcast explores how both guests first entered this particular part of the health sector and their passion behind it.
Dr Knox discusses the epiphany he had while working as a GP that allowed him to think differently and enter a role leadership role where he helped engage local communities in thinking more about their own health.
Prof Dougall also discusses her exasperation at the lack of progress on the health inequalities front despite widespread acknowledgement of the presence of avoidable issues.
Listen to the full podcast for more.
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In Episode 34 of the National Health Executive podcast, we are joined by NHS England’s national clinical director for infection, antimicrobial resistance and deterioration, Dr Matt Inada-Kim, to discuss whether the pandemic is really over, how the NHS has learnt from Covid-19 and what the NHS needs to do to prepare for the next global health incident.
Dr Inada-Kim said: “Whilst technically it [the pandemic] might be over in terms of the numbers, certainly from a Covid perspective, we’re very much still in maelstrom of the effects of it – particularly the backlog.
“But it’s not just catching up on the elective work in terms of surgery, operations or appointments but it’s also a backlog of preventative and chronic disease management that I don’t think we were optimally able to provide during the lockdown.”
Dr Inada-Kim went onto explain how he believes the health service needs a “sea change” to ensure patients are cared for in the right place and not just the most convenient one as well as highlighting the need to make use of industry partnerships to further accelerate the “ explosion of digital tech”.
He also went on to note need for better “measurement” in terms of how the NHS benchmarks quality and safety of care against both itself and other health systems.
“A lot of our initiatives appear to be focused around avoiding work – reducing activity, avoiding an admission, avoiding an attendance, reducing general practice appointments for instance – [but] we also need, with 50% of our energy, to be focusing on quality of care, the safety of care [and] ensuring outcomes for patients remain at the very forefront of everything we do.”
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