The PNE Podcast The PNE Podcast

In this episode Jack chats to Lisa Kelly, Chief Operating Officer at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Raised in a small village in South Derbyshire (10 minutes from where she lives now), Lisa grew up a self-professed "teacher's pet", who tried very hard academically - a virtue which is demonstrated by the senior role she occupies today.
Her leadership qualities showed themselves early - in her pre-school nativity she played Mary and had a tendency to boss her schoolmates around. At university, she first studied Geography, involved a lot of human geography and international relations, furthering her interest in people and the social aspects of healthcare, sparked by a trip to Ethiopia when she was 16. To this day, in her current role, she manages the partnership with a hospital in Ethiopia.

As a leader, Lisa emphasises building relationships and connections, recognising the value of every team member's contributions, understanding what they bring to the table and how you can make the best use of that.

In this episode, Jack has the privilege of speaking with philanthropist and healthcare leader Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallet, Chairman of Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust, Founder and Chair of The Marshall Institute within the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Founder and Chair of Helpforce.

Sir Thomas gives a fascinating account of his life and career journey. He admits he has been privileged and lucky to attend some of the world's most prestigious institutions, including Eton ("it was a very privileged life wearing pretty unusual clothes") and Oxford University, where he sang every night in the choir at evensong and "fell in love disastrously on a number of occasions".

On a gap year from university, he lived in Zimbabwe for year teaching in the first mixed-race school, perhaps setting the scene for his passion for volunteer and charity work later in his career. Sir Thomas has spent the last few decades giving back - firstly heading up Marie Cure Cancer Care, then going on to set up his own charitable projects The Marshall Institute and Helpforce.

This episode offers a unique view on leadership, work, and life from someone who has been both in the fast-paced, world of investment banking as well as leading major charitable initiatives and healthcare organisations with a real passion for protecting and supporting the NHS.

This fascinating episode features Richard Stubbs, CEO of Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network. Richard grew up in a mining community in South Yorkshire - the first of four generations not to go down the pits. A self-professed "nerd", he was extremely competitive both academically and in sport - falling in love with golf at an early age, looking up to Tiger Woods as a mixed race kid in a white working class community.

After studying politics and economics at university, where he contributed to student radio, Richard worked at the BBC, which he values as an experience which taught him a lot about leadership and "making the impossible happen". Wanting to "do something he really cared about", he joined the NHS graduate scheme, starting an 18 year long career.

Richard provides insight on the diversity conversation - sharing his personal thoughts on systemic racism and unconscious bias, as well as his views on the wider issues highlighted by George Floyd and the pandemic. He acknowledges that the right conversations are starting to happen, but the statistics, particularly in senior leadership in the NHS, show a clear problem.

Jack has an enlightening chat with Adrian Ball, Chief Executive of Diocese of Ely Multi Academy Trust, one of the biggest primary Academy Trusts in the UK.

Adrian talks about how much he enjoyed growing up in Norfolk, and how he's maintained a strong connection to the area - "Norfolk's got me".

Although he had early ambitions to work in the stock market, losing out on a place at LSE meant having a rethink - driving him to attend Brunel University and study Sports Science and playing on the rugby team. Through his involvement in sport and outreach from club and university teams coaching in local schools, Adrian discovered a passion for education that set him on the path to where he is now. His strong background in sport has also instilled within him an unrivalled sense of camaraderie and the importance of not letting those around you down.

As a leader, Adrian understands the importance of setting the direction and the vision, but also the value of letting go - of recognising gaps in your own skillset and building a team around you that complements you.

In this episode Jack talks to Dr Harriet Dunbar-Morris, Dean of Learning and Teaching at University of Portsmouth. Harriet grew up pretty much as far from Portsmouth as you can get in Great Britain - in a small village near Inverness where everyone knew each other.

Her background is in linguistics, studying French at the University of Sussex and then the University of Toulouse. Naturally quite a shy person, moving to a new country and having assimilate whilst learning the language was a challenge, but Harriet speaks about how she often tells herself that things are difficult for a reason, and that she has to "pull her socks up" and get on with it, even if something is challenging.

Harriet worked incredibly hard to achieve a doctorate in her field, and is still working today towards becoming a professor. As leader, she is passionate about improving the student experience and therefore student outcomes, and prides herself on being a problem solver.

In this episode, we hear from James Rawlinson, Director of Health Informatics at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust.

James talks about how some of the tough times throughout his life, his parents splitting up when he was 8, and his mom sadly passing away of cancer a little over 10 years ago, has moulded and shaped his outlook today. James is deeply connected to his Northern roots, commenting that where he lives today is "probably 300 metres from the house where his granddad was born". An operation at a young age left him deaf in one ear, thwarting his dreams of being an RAF engineer and how he "fell into" his degree in Computer Science at Manchester University based on his love of the rave scene in "Madchester".

With a career in the NHS spanning 25 years, James talks about how the ever-changing nature and positive purpose of the sector keeps him going. As leader, he emphasis maintaining tempo, a sense of purpose and direction, and keeping promises and commitments to build trust and stability.

This episode is sponsored by CommonTime.