Let’s Talk Health and Care

Professor Marc Griffiths and Professor Peter Brindle

This podcast series is linked to the Integrated Care Academy at UWE Bristol and covers various topics associated with workforce development, applied research with impact, health technology and positive societal change. Building relationships and being an interface between people, technology, education, research, culture and health care are core elements of the Integrated Care Academy at UWE Bristol. http://uwe.ac.uk/integrated-care-academy Contact us: ica@uwe.ac.uk

  1. 17h ago

    15. Thriving or just surviving? RateMyShift explains why asking "How do you feel after your shift today?" matters

    In this episode, Dr Peter Brindle is joined by Olivia Crossing and Annie Taylor, both experienced NHS nurses and co-founders of RateMyShift, an award-winning digital platform that gives NHS staff a real-time voice about their working day.   RateMyShift is a continuous feedback platform designed to prompt meaningful conversations between line managers and colleagues in real-time. Starting life as a box of smiley faces on a staff notice board, it evolved into an Excel spreadsheet and a QI project, and then into the digital communication platform it is today. Built for healthcare staff, by healthcare staff, it is a tool that can be used to identify problems early within a health and care setting, to stop them from developing into bigger, unresolved problems in the future.  We explore RateMyShift's origins and evolution, and Annie and Olivia's dynamic together as co-founders.  We talk about how hierarchy creates communication gaps that managers may not even be aware of, and also of the crucial role of coaching in helping managers turn data into change.  Underpinning all of it is a simple concept that staff who feel heard and valued are better able to give patients the care they deserve.   RateMyShift sits in the gap between intent and improved experience.   Find out more about RateMyShift: https://www.ratemyshift.app/   Stay healthy and take care!

  2. Apr 10

    14. Faces Rebuilt, Lives Restored: The Bristol 3D Medical Centre

    Rebuilding Identity: Inside the Bristol 3D Medical Centre with Lead Reconstructive Scientist Amy Davey Imagine losing part of your face, your smile, or even your identity and then meeting a team who can help you rebuild it.  In this remarkable on‑site episode, hosts Marc Griffiths and Peter Brindle take listeners inside the groundbreaking Bristol 3D Medical Centre, the first NHS facility in the UK to bring 3D scanning, digital modelling and 3D printing together under one roof to transform patient rehabilitation. Our guest, Amy Davey, Lead Reconstructive Scientist and Lab Manager, guides us through the full journey: from ultra‑precise facial scanning to digital sculpting, from high‑tech resin and PEEK printing to the traditional hand‑crafting of prosthetics even down to the Singer sewing machine used to tailor bespoke silicone garments. More than a technological deep dive, this episode explores the emotional and therapeutic dimensions of reconstruction. Amy shares powerful patient stories, including individuals rebuilding confidence after cancer treatment, trauma, or congenital differences, and reveals how a prosthesis can do far more than restore appearance it can help restore confidence and someone’s identity. Along the way we discuss: How the Centre supports patients from infancy to older age The fusion of artistry, engineering and clinical care in modern prosthetics The evolution and future of 3D‑printed medical devices in the NHS The vital psychological aspects of appearance, identity and rehabilitation The Centre’s growing partnerships with universities and robotics researchers What ‘brilliant’ looks like for the next five years of innovation This is an inspiring and empowering episode that showcases innovation in practice, delivered with compassion. A must‑listen for anyone interested in health, technology, engineering, patient experience, or the future of personalised medicine. To learn more about the Bristol 3D Medical Centre and explore examples of their work, follow the link in the episode description. https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/our-services/a-z-services/reconstructive-prosthetics/bristol-3d-medical-centre

  3. 12/12/2025

    12. Meeting young people where they are: The Empire Fighting Chance story

    In this powerful episode of Let’s Talk Health and Care, Marc Griffiths and Peter Brindle take listeners inside Empire Fighting Chance, a Bristol-based organisation transforming the lives of young people who have been, in their own words, 'knocked down by life'. Through boxing-inspired therapy, culturally competent support, and deep community connection, Empire Fighting Chance is reshaping how we think about mental health, violence prevention and youth engagement. Marc and Peter speak with Co-Founder Martin Bisp, Mariella and Elaine who share the origins of their unique model, the evidence behind their impact, and what traditional services can learn from meeting young people where they truly are. Together, they explore the challenges of working with young people affected by trauma, the urgent need for systemic change, including calls for an Office of Violence Prevention and the importance of empowering local communities rather than replicating top-down interventions. Listeners will also hear from a box therapist, who brings to life what therapy looks like in the gym environment, and a young person turned staff member, who shares their journey through adversity and how this approach helped them rewrite their story. Marc and Peter close this episode with some reflections on what health and care professionals can take from the Empire model: the value of culturally relevant support, the power of safe non-clinical spaces, and the need to be braver in commissioning innovative approaches for those who need them most. A compelling episode that challenges assumptions, highlights community-led innovation, and offers a hopeful look at what’s possible when we design services with young people, not for them.   Links: Empire Fighting Chance Uncovered: Identity-Based Mass Violence in Urban Contexts | IBMV

  4. 06/15/2025

    8. Revolutionising Assistive Technologies with affordable innovation

    In this latest episode, we are joined by Dr Appolinaire Etoundi, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Mechatronics at UWE Bristol. From pioneering low-cost prosthetic legs to developing AI-driven assistive devices, Appolinaire is reshaping how technology intersects with healthcare and his vision to create a centre that uses AI, 3D scanning and printing to tailor affordable prosthetics in real time is captivating. The driving force for the vision is entirely user-centred - a career shift motivated by being challenged by a gold medal winning Para Olympian to consider making joints for people rather than robots... His mission is to design technology that empowers and not excludes. Interesting fact: The temperature in a prosthetic leg socket can reach 47-49 Celsius after 90 minutes of walking! There is so much to be done to improve this and many other aspects of living with prosthetics.   Useful links:   Appolinaire’s university profile: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/AppolinaireEtoundi Cybathlon 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLbl2Q1xGuA Bristol Centre for Enablement: https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/bristol-centre-enablement   Selected publications: Bio-Inspired Knee Joint: Trends in the Hardware Systems Development https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.613574/full Experimental Verification of Kinematics and Kinetics in a Biomimetic Bipedal Robot https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/mechanismsrobotics/article/15/1/014503/1140488/Experimental-Verification-of-Kinematics-and The Anthro-Thumb: a biomimetic hybrid soft robotic carpometacarpal saddle joint for the thumb, Frontiers in Robotics and AI https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1496073/full

    8. Revolutionising Assistive Technologies with affordable innovation

About

This podcast series is linked to the Integrated Care Academy at UWE Bristol and covers various topics associated with workforce development, applied research with impact, health technology and positive societal change. Building relationships and being an interface between people, technology, education, research, culture and health care are core elements of the Integrated Care Academy at UWE Bristol. http://uwe.ac.uk/integrated-care-academy Contact us: ica@uwe.ac.uk