FabStuff Podcast

Dr T Porrett
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Interviews with leading figures from health and social care

  1. Series 2 Episode 4 Andy Burnham - Mayor of Manchester

    MAR 28

    Series 2 Episode 4 Andy Burnham - Mayor of Manchester

    In the latest Podcast, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham reveals that the government has agreed to appoint a new Health Commissioner who will be jointly accountable to the Mayor and to the government for health and social care services.  The Mayor said that the Commissioner would have dual accountability, as the ICB chair for NHS purposes and as a health commissioner to the combined Greater Manchester authority.  “I'm really excited about that.” he says.  “Finally it feels to me we're getting close here to (an integrated) model of commissioning, priority setting and direction setting. The rest of the Greater Manchester system now is highly integrated, our other public service work as one, but the health service has become an outlier. That's been worrying us greatly and we think this might solve it.”  In a wide ranging discussion with Niall and Roy, Andy Burnham says we will never know whether he could have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, but insists he would never have asked to stand unless he thought he had a good chance, and he rejected the idea that if he had won, the Mayor role would have been at risk. Instead he suggests that if he had won the byelection that would have created a positive momentum for Labour in any Mayoral election. Among many insights in the podcast, Andy reflects  on how he began to move away from the New Labour health  agenda while serving as a minister in the Blair administration in the mid-2000s. As for the current government, he commends them for starting to get a grip on the challenges facing the NHS but laments the delay in tackling social care. “How much longer can we keep flinching from that challenge? It’s got to be faced. There will no marked improvement until they grasp the nettle of social care reform.”  There is also a frank assessment of the state of current services, in which he points to the vast number of older people trapped in hospital beds, to their and everyone else’s detriment. Andy’s father has dementia and he talks about his frustration at a care system which seems determined to dial 999 at every opportunity and send his father into A and E, when that is the last place where he should be going.  But he is optimistic that his model of integrated services focussed on prevention can in time release resources and create a much more responsive community based set of services.  He claims his ‘LiveWell’ revolution in Greater Manchester will mean doing prevention in a way that has never been tried before, diverting significant resources into voluntary and community organisations and letting them be first port of call. In time he believes it will create services that keep people healthy and create wellbeing, transform health and social care and  take pressure of the NHS and other public services. Send us Fan Mail

    40 min
  2. Series 2 Episode 3 Paul Farmer CBE

    MAR 14

    Series 2 Episode 3 Paul Farmer CBE

    In their latest podcast, Niall and Roy have a fascinating exchange with Paul Farmer CBE, the leader of Age UK, Britain’s largest charity campaigning and providing services for older people. Have older people got it too easy? Little more than a generation ago, pensioners were seen as among the poorest and most vulnerable groups; today the vast majority have never had it so good. Yet Paul argues that is a dangerous narrative which ignores the two million or so older people who either experience poor health, financial insecurity or loneliness. And he rejects the idea that this is just about deprivation, suggesting we have not faced up to the enormous challenge of living in an ageing society.  When challenged on the cost of the triple lock for pensioners, Paul says he  welcomes the debate about the future of the state pension, including the possibility of means testing. But he warns that successive governments’ record on means testing has been extremely poor.   On social care another warning - because of chronic and persistent underfunding he suggests something terribly bad could easily happen and that solutions offered in the past will need to be revised given the parlous state of services today. Paul argues not only that social care needs significant extra funding but also a long-term view; the question is who is going to play for these reforms?   As for the NHS, he points to fact that in the last year more than fifty thousand patients in their 80s ended up hospital corridors, and that we need to start looking at the health service through the lens of older people. He is challenged on how much of Age UK’s income actually goes to local branches that provide direct services, as opposed to lobbying and other national activities. Paul responds by saying they have begun to give more to local branches and have plans to do more.   Listen to Niall and Roy’s reflections on this absorbing exchange with one of the most influential leaders advocating for older people in the UK.      Send a text

    38 min
  3. Series 2, Episode 2 Professor Nicola Ranger CEO Royal College of Nursing

    FEB 20

    Series 2, Episode 2 Professor Nicola Ranger CEO Royal College of Nursing

    Listen as  Niall and Roy delve into the world of nursing,  with the leader of the Royal College of Nursing (the  world's largest nursing union) Professor Nicola Ranger. In a frank exchange, Nicola reflects on the crisis of recruitment and retention, the fact that nurses spend too much of their time on pointless tasks, the unprecedented levels of low morale and the possibility of strike action.  Nicola believes there is an urgent need to reform nurse education, including in her personal view,  a national exam for every nurse wanting to join the register.  This is a clarion call for reform within and beyond the profession, and a warning of an existential threat to the NHS if the government does not invest and start to value nurses.   Send us Fan Mail

    43 min
  4. Series 2 Episode 1 Tom Dolphin

    FEB 5

    Series 2 Episode 1 Tom Dolphin

    The British Medical Association are never far away from the headlines but what is their real game? In their latest In the Loop podcast, Niall and Roy have an in depth discussion with Dr Tom Dolphin the BMA chair who leads one of the most powerful trade unions in the country, if not the most powerful. In a revealing exchange Tom reflects on the growing militancy of doctors and their willingness to strike, as well as the changes affecting General Practice which for some GPs is making their lives less satisfying and more transactional. But he insists the partnership model, in which GPs run their own businesses, can survive if it is properly supported, in spite of many younger doctors choosing to take on salaried roles. Tom  doubts the value of revalidation, the system that requires doctors to show they are competent and up to date and he blames the NHS for making doctors undergo pointless statutory training as part of that process. He is deeply concerned at so called ‘doctor substitution’, whereby tasks once performed by doctors are being carried out by professionals with new roles such as Physician Assistants, and he reveals talks are underway with the Royal College of Nursing about the expanding roles of Clinical Nurse Specialists. As the seemingly existential duel with the UK government goes on, this is a chance to hear the leader of Britain’s doctors as he reflects on the battles ahead for the BMA, but also to hear his take on the wider and fundamental challenges facing the medical profession. Tom insists the BMA and the UK government are aligned in their ambition for the NHS, but there is little sign in this exchange that the union will backdown. Indeed he issues a warning that if things don’t go their way, further strikes are possible from other doctors including consultants, the most senior doctors on the front line. Send us Fan Mail

    41 min

  5. FEB 2

    Who's up next on In the Loop

    Send us Fan Mail

    4 min
  6. Episode 15 David Gregson

    JAN 3

    Episode 15 David Gregson

    To start their 2026 podcasts, Niall and Roy make a departure from their usual focus on the politics and management of the NHS, and explore the worrying state of our young people.  The awful reality is that youngsters in the UK appear to be unhappier than nearly all their European counterparts.  Their first guest of the New Year is David Gregson an entrepreneur and philanthropist who has embarked on an ambitious and innovative programme called #BeeWell. Its aim is to improve the wellbeing of young people throughout the country, starting in Greater Manchester and a few other areas of England. Working with the Mayor, Andy Burnham together with schools, local authorities and the NHS, the architects of the #BeeWell approach already claim to be having a significant impact, affecting the lives of thousands of young people.  But can this programme, which demands action and a mind-shift from statutory and voluntary services, really be the catalyst to change the prospects of the next generation?  In a fascinating exchange, David Gregson points to weaker family relationships, restrictions on child freedom, and the fact that adults often no longer understand the world in which their youngsters live. He applauds moves by the UK government to raise the profile of youngsters’ wellbeing and its support for idea of conducting surveys in every school, but he wants them to go further and faster. Send us Fan Mail

    41 min
  7. Episode 14 Dr Charlotte Refsum - Tony Blair Institute

    12/06/2025

    Episode 14 Dr Charlotte Refsum - Tony Blair Institute

    Niall Dickson CBE and Roy Lilley with their latest guest Dr Charlotte Refsum  In their latest In The Loop podcast Niall and Roy lock horns with Dr Charlotte Refsum Director of Health Policy at the Tony Blair Institute. In a frank discussion Charlotte a former GP,  reveals how the former Prime Minister is still closely involved in policy development and she lays out the stark choices facing the NHS if it is to survive in the face of the enormous challenges it currently faces.  Charlotte is a former GP who has specialised in health policy. She worked for the consultancy firm KMPG and has been involved in supporting change in 25 countries.  She contributed to the government’s NHS plan and has worked with Sir Patrick Vallance and Sir John Bell on technology and how the arrival of the AI era will transform health and care. In the podcast Charlotte defends the Institute’s links with big tech companies and non- democratic governments and insists she and her colleagues have editorial independence and have never felt under any pressure to write anything or hold a view because of those relationships or funding.  What follows is a frank assessment of the current government’s strategy but hard questions about what will be needed to implement the changes needed and whether the absolute priority, which concentrates so much of its resources on older people with long term conditions, is justified.  Charlotte suggests the current budget may be all we can afford, and in her view the NHS needs to find ways of living within its means. That will involve thinking like an insurer, assessing future risks and taking prevention much more seriously. And there is also  talk of copayments for some new treatments for those who can afford it and the need for the NHS to start decommissioning some services if it is to embrace the technological revolution that is underway.  And she suggests we need a revolution in primary care.  As for the professions, she suggests the impact on doctors and others is uncertain but will be profound.  One of the changes she identifies is how new technology will continue to undermine the asymmetry of information that underpins the professions and how it will become easier and cheaper for people to seek advice from elsewhere. But she adds, that does not mean a dystopian future where we send out someone with an NVQ and an iPad to get and manage complex cases!  Send us Fan Mail

    36 min
  8. Episode 13 Rob Webster CBE

    11/15/2025

    Episode 13 Rob Webster CBE

    Niall Dickson CBE and Roy Lilley with their latest guest Rob Webster CBE  For this next edition of In The Loop podcast Niall and Roy come together with Rob Webster one of the most prominent NHS managers and a huge advocate of integration. Rob heads up the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership an integrated care system.  And like every other system in the country he is grappling with a huge financial challenge, a big reorganisation, redundancies and staff threatening industrial action. So how is he managing as he faces a 45% reduction is his workforce and key staff in an angry mood?  Rob reveals this is the most frustrating period in his 36 year career with enormous pressure on everyone and he admits it is causing harm to his staff.  But he insists it will not distract from the work. While he acknowledges the difficult financial position, he says the transition is incredibly difficult, supports the aims of the reorganisation and believes that close working relationships between health, local authorities and the third sector can and will deliver meaningful change.   He says the NHS must put its people first and argues that staff have quite rightly become dissatisfied and that the job of NHS leaders is to do something about this. He notes how painful it has been to see the attrition of standards over the past fifteen years but suggests this can be a period where the NHS has to recover and transform services. Niall and Roy remain concerned about what can be achieved given all the headwinds but here again is a leader who says they can make progress. This podcast was recorded before the government announced the go-ahead for widespread redundancies in ICBs and NHSE.  Speaking at a Providers conference on 12th November the Secretary of State said;  ‘...Funding arrangements [for voluntary redundancies] have been agreed with HM Treasury and will be from within the existing funding settlement. We will not be cutting any investment to the NHS frontline. Further detail will come forward in the coming weeks.’ It is widely anticipated that NHS organisations will be permitted to overspend budgets in the current year and the amounts reclaimed over subsequent years through efficiency savings.   Send us Fan Mail

    41 min
See All (20)

About

Interviews with leading figures from health and social care

Information

  • Creator
    Dr T Porrett
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 FabStuff Podcast
  • Show Website
    FabStuff Podcast

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