National Health Executive Podcast National Health Executive

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 

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.