National Health Executive Podcast

Dr Anshumen Bhagat, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of GPDQ - alongside continuing to be a practicing NHS GP - joined us on episode 18 of NHE’s Finger on the Pulse podcast, talking us through primary care, its challenges over the last 12 months and his visions for its future. We talk difficulties, solutions and ambitions in this insightful episode of the podcast.GPDQ is an organisation well-placed to be assisting with the NHS’ primary care challenges right now, because each and every one of it’s members experiences those challenges in their own daily working lives.That is because one of the core values at the heart of GPDQ is that it is run by working NHS staff. Be it a GP, specialist nurse or paramedic, should a healthcare professional move entirely into private practice, then they won’t be found among GPDQ’s roster of staff.And having that skin in the game, so to speak, is important. As Anshu explains: “We lose about 90-100 GPs a month in this country. We need more coming through.”So, to be able to provide opportunities to work differently, to work with different teams and provide services perhaps outside of their day-to-day NHS duties, including private practice, all without removing staff from an already waning health service pool is essential.It is a belief seen in one of GPDQ’s convictions when it does provide private healthcare. In part, due to its staff’s continued involvement in the NHS side of affairs, moving treatment and care to private provision is less about seizing on a commercial opportunity, and far more about the knock-on implications that can have for those who do have to rely on the NHS to provide their care.“Every patient we see in the private sector is one less patient who needs to be seen in the public sector.”With the pandemic, that has become truer than ever before. The NHS is facing a significant treatment backlog, to overcome which it will have to work with and rely on services like those which GPDQ provide. And to their credit, these services have innovated significantly in response to the pandemic’s demands too.Anshu describes how his organisation and colleagues have worked to deliver necessary services, including virtual clinics - including being able to step in at short notice for NHS staff absences (minimising disruption for patients) - through to running home visitations still where necessary using Covid ‘hot’ car systems.It is a period of substantial change for primary care right now, with the likes of Anshu being able to provide a great insight into it from both sides of the NHS/private debate.To hear much more from Anshu, listen in to episode 18 of NHE’s Finger on the Pulse podcast…  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“What do you want from your care?”It seems a quite basic question for a clinician to ask. However, in its simplicity is an inherent power. By beginning the conversation in such a way, we naturally shift the patient journey and our interactions with that patient towards a process of shared decision making; we offer the patient a level of involvement and autonomy in their own care.And by facilitating that informed involvement in their own treatments and journey, there are real benefits for everyone involved: for the patients, the clinicians and the wider system alike. For the patient, there can be no better barometer of what is and is not important to them individually in their care, based on their personal experiences, priorities and desires, while clinicians will equally benefit from more engaged patients who are likely to be invested in managing their condition and sticking to the treatment plans that they’ve had a hand in deciding on.Read the full article here: http://btpubs.co.uk/publication/?m=62920&i=691004&p=34&pre=1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Episode 16 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast, host Matt Roberts is joined by SilverCloud Health's Head of Europe Dr Lloyd Humphreys as we discuss mental health, Covid-19 and digital mental health services. As a leading digital mental health service provider, SilverCloud Health saw a significant uptick in people using their digital mental health service; was that anticipated, and what are the implications longer-term?As Dr Humphreys explained: "Uncertainty plays a critical role. [The rise in digital mental health services usage] was down to people having a completely normal reaction to an abnormal situation [in Covid-19]."It's really important we need to not talk about mental illness but talk about mental health. It's a universal truth that we all have mental health."And accessing support is naturally going to change and develop to meet the needs of people at that time, such as shifting more towards remote and digital services as the virus restricted our movements and increased concern among people. As Dr Humphreys described, people "want to access support and help in their own way".Listen to the full conversation to on Episode 16 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Episode 15 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast, brought to you by Brother UK, regular host Matt Roberts is joined by Ged Cairns and Matt Jones of Brother UK to discuss how IT and technology can directly impact and improve patient care - the only real "currency" which matters across the health sector, as Matt Jones explains.Our discussions with Brother come on the back of a body of work carried out in partnership between our two organisations, culminating in an audience survey and whitepaper report - which can be downloaded now here - which we reflect on the findings of during the episode.Patient care is the ultimate goal for all across the health service, as seen throughout our survey of both primary and secondary care members. As Matt Jones explained: "Moving into the public sector, it was something I was immediately struck by. The currency that people talk about it patient care."Their ultimate goal is to increase levels of patient care."And as we discuss, both through Brother's products and more widely, there are real opportunities to be found across the health service. That can be everything from significant changes, from the labelling of blood bottles as one example from the episode, through to the marginal gains which all add up across an NHS employee's shift or working day.Want to find out more, jump in and give Episode 15 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast a listen... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Episode 14 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast, we're joined by Professor Craig Jackson, Professor of Occupational Health PsychologyBirmingham City University to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, the health messaging around it and how those in power have missed a trick by overlooking the key role of psychology in informing the public of restrictions, measures and the ever-changing situation.Together, Professor Jackson and regular host Matt Roberts discuss the things the government got right in the early stages, the uncertainty and vagueness caused by a second set of messaging open to interpretation and how things could be pulled together once more - including through the use of psychology, creativity and more individual messaging.We also discuss the risks of an impending Christmas turkey shortage... ensuring it's not all doom and gloom in what is quite a difficult and ever-present subject in all of lives right now.Join the discussion and let us know across social media what your thoughts are. We're always keen to engage with our listeners and hear different points of view. Whether you agree or disagree, discussion is at the core of how we learn and improve: as a society, as an industry and as individuals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthea Hockly, Associate Director of Workforce Development and Learning at Essex Partnership University NHS FT (EPUT), joins us to talk about the new Health and Care Academy which has been founded in Essex through the work of the trust and a number of other partners from across the region's health and social care delivery spectrum.Giving young people in the area an opportunity to directly engage with NHS and care professionals from a very diverse range of roles, including both clinical and non-clinical positions, the sessions were a great way to help the young people answer the questions they wanted to know and directly engage with people they perhaps otherwise would not have had the opportunity to do so with and discover job roles they may not have ever considered.Having originally been planned as a face-to-face event, the coronavirus pandemic caused EPUT and the other partners to have to flex and shift quickly to a digital offering instead - something which has since become a preferred outcome after it worked well, resonated with the young people who remained highly engaged and opened more doors to provide a wider, more interesting cohort of professionals.Training the next generation, across a range of different methods, and upskilling the existing workforce are essential to the continued success of the NHS and schemes like these are a vital way of ensuring the health service doesn't miss out on any potential future talent; even if they fall outside of the traditional, university/academic-focused route into the service. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Episode 12 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast, I'm joined by Michelle Nix of Parking Eye as we discuss the ways their car park solutions can assist healthcare providers in improving revenues, creating a better user experience and allowing greater accessibility and the introduction of touchless and cashless technologies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast, host Matt Roberts is joined by Darren Atkins, Chief Technology Officer (Artificial Intelligence & Automation) at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust to talk about digital technology, automation and AI and how it all fits into the modern health sector. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mental health has always been an area of significant discussion in the health sector, from clinicians to solution through to prevention. But, on Episode 10 of NHE's Finger on the Pulse podcast host Matt Roberts chats with Nicholas Rowley of the Manchester branch of Andy's Man Club, a mental health charity aimed at supporting men to talk about their mental health problems and overcome some of the stigma, to understand what services are out there to address mental health provision beyond the traditional clinical settings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Telemedicine has been one of the emerging areas of progress during the coronavirus pandemic, with a much more widespread and rapid adoption of remote technology. But how effective is the technology for the clinicians using it - and how do we as a health sector decide which options are the best suited for adoption from organisations? To answer this and more, we speak with Glenn Smith, advanced nurse practitioner and one of NHE's newest editorial board members. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.