Professor Christine Porath is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and helps organizations build thriving workplaces. She’s the author of the award winning books, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and Mastering Community: The surprising ways coming together moves us from surviving to thriving. Her speaking and consulting clients include Google, United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Genentech, Marriott, National...

Dr Aidan Fowler is the National Director of Patient Safety in England and a Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health and Social Care. Aidan started off his career as a surgeon, working as a consultant colorectal surgeon in Gloucestershire for 10 years. He then transitioned into a series of senior leadership roles including Director of NHS Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and Director of the 1000 Lives Improvement Service for NHS Wales, with responsibility for quality...

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh started off his career as a cardiac surgeon, eventually becoming professor of cardiac surgery at University College London. He then transitioned into leadership roles most notably of which he was the National Medical Director of NHS England for 10 years, during which he helped implement a whole raft of changes that shaped the state of our NHS. He is widely recognised as one of the UK's leading medics and was knighted for services to medicine in 2003. In this episode...

Sir Robert Francis is an eminent British barrister who specialises in medical law, including medical and mental health treatment and capacity issues, clinical negligence and professional discipline. Sir Robert has been a barrister since 1973 and became a King’s Counsel in 1992. He has appeared in a number of healthcare-related inquiries and chaired the Independent Inquiry into the care provided by the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, and subsequently the Mid Staffordshire NHS...

Dame Marianne is one of the most influential and longest-serving senior leaders in the NHS, having served nearly 14 years as chief executive of UHSussex and its predecessor organisations, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH) and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT). Under her leadership, hospitals in West Sussex became the first to be rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in all key inspection areas and hospitals in Brighton and Haywards Heath...

Dr Fiona Donald is President Royal College of Anaesthetists and a consultant anaesthetist working in Bristol. Fiona’s main area of clinical and research interest is obstetric anasthetisa concentrating on improvements in safety through team training. She has a longstanding commitment to teaching and training, having been College Tutor, Chair of the Board of the Bristol School of Anaesthesia and an FRCA examiner. In this episode we ask her about: Her career Anasthetics Priorities as President...

Professor Dame Parveen Kumar is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Education at Barts and a consultant gastroenterologist. She has had an immensely successful career as a researcher, medical educator, leader and clinician. Professor Kumar was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) at its inception in 1999 and resigned this post in 2002 when she was appointed as the Chairman of the Medicines Commission UK. She has been President of the...

Professor Dame Clare Gerada who is a GP and President of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Clare initially trained as a psychiatrist at the Maudsley. This contributed to her lifelong interest in managing drug users and also the huge amount of work to support the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers. She founded Practitioner Health and is Chair of the charity Doctors in Distress. In 2020 she was made a Dame for services to general practice. In this episode we ask her about: Her...

Dr Jeanette Dickson is President of the Royal College of Radiologists and a consultant clinical oncologist at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. Her main clinical interest is in the multimodal management of thoracic malignancies. She has held a series of senior roles within the Royal College before becoming President and also maintains a strong interest in medical education. In this episode we ask her about:     Her career Oncology Priorities as President Issues facing the Royal College Advice...

Professor Andrew Goddard is President of the Royal College of Physicians and a consultant gastroenterologist in Derby. His main clinical and research interests are bowel cancer screening, H. Pylori, iron deficiency anaemia and inflammatory bowel disease. He has extensive experience in the RCP, having been director of the RCP Medical Workforce Unit, Registrar then becoming the youngest President to be elected for 400 years and first from the East Midlands. He created a document "keeping...

Prof Mike Osborn is a consultant histopathologist and President of the Royal College of Pathologists. Prof Osborn divides his time between post-mortems, diagnostic gastrointestinal histopathology, bowel screening and teaching. He was involved in the UK's first ever televised post-mortem to understand the impact obesity has on the body. In this episode we ask him about: His career Pathology Priorities as President Most pressing issues facing the college, including antimicrobial resistance...

Mr Edward Morris is a consultant gynaecologist and President of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Mr Morris set up and lead a BSGE endometriosis centre and a BMS accredited menopause service. He has extensive experience in the RCOG particularly in the area of clinical quality. In this episode we ask him about: His career Obs & Gynae Priorities as President Important reports in maternity service How to drive improvements as an individual Advice for medical students...

Dr Adrian James is a consultant forensic psychiatrist in Devon and President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Prior to his current position Dr James held a series of senior leadership roles and has been heavily involved with the Royal College having set up the Quality Improvement and Workforce Wellbeing committees. In this episode we ask him about: His career Psychiatry Priorities as President Challenges facing psychiatry Advice for medical students and doctors For comments,...

Professor Neil Mortensen is President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He is Professor of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Oxford and was instrumental in the establishment of colorectal surgery as a specialty. He founded the first patient association for those with ileoanal pouches the Kangaroo Club and in 2004 set up the charity OCCTOPUS - Oxford Colon Cancer Trust which supports education, research and new technology in colorectal disease. In this episode we ask him...

Professor Sir Michael Marmot is Professor of Epidemiology At University College London, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity and Past President of the World Medical Association. He is author of the hugely popular "The Health Gap". In 2021 Professor Marmot received BMJ's Outstanding Contribution to Health award. In this episode we discuss: The social determinants of health The Marmot Review Build Back Fairer: the COVID 19 Marmot Review How individual clinicians can combat health...

Dr Camilla Kingdon is the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). She graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and trained in paediatrics in London. She has a long standing interest in medical education and enhancing the working lives of paediatricians. In this episode we ask her about: Her career Current issues facing paediatrics Priorities as president Advice for medical students and doctors For comments, collaboration or feedback,...

Dr Katherine Henderson is the President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). She is the 1st female president of the RCEM. Dr Henderson is a consultant in emergency medicine, and has a strong interest in emergency department culture and promoting sustainability of the specialty. She was awarded an MBE due to her services to emergency medicine during the pandemic. In this episode we ask her about: Her career Leadership Current issues facing emergency medicine as a specialty...

Professor Ted Baker is the Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Prior to this Ted held a series of senior leadership roles and had a successful career as a clinical academic where he pioneered the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)  for the heart. He was also one of the key drivers behind the establishment of the Evalina Children's Hospital. In this episode we ask him about: His career Leadership Care Quality Commission Organisational culture Advice for...

Dr Rosie Benneyworth is the Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Prior to this Rosie held a series of senior leadership roles including the Vice Chair of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). She also led the national network of Patient Safety Collaboratives. Rosie worked as a GP for 15 years in Somerset. We ask her about the role of the CQC, common misconceptions, how GPs can get involved in driving...

Prof Francesco Rubino is Chair of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at King's College London. Prof Rubino became the world's first Professor of Metabolic Surgery, and is internationally renowned within his field. He conducted pioneering research which showed that bariatric surgery can improvediabetes independently of weight loss. This evidence provided scientific rationale for the surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes. Prof Rubino spent several years training in the US and was voted one of the...

Dr Bola Owolabi is a practising GP and Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement. Up until recently she was National Specialty Advisor for Older People and Integrated Person Centred-Care. She has held a series of senior leadership roles and was recently heavily involved in the Government's Covid-19 Pandemic Response. In this episode we ask her about: Her career General Practice  Health inequalities Leadership Advice for medical students and doctors For comments,...

Prof Ulrike Schmidt is Professor of Eating Disorders and Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). Professor Schmidt’s research has been highly influential and has shaped clinical practice. She has developed the multi-award winning FREED early intervention programme for eating disorders and MANTRA an outpatient therapy recomended first-line by NICE for patients with eating disorders. In 2018 she was also awarded an...

Prof Prokar Dasgupta is the Foundation Professor of Surgery for King’s Health Partners. Professor Dasgupta pioneered robotic surgery in the UK, and leads on surgical simulation both nationally and internationally. He has an extensive research portfolio and is credited with describing an innovative technique of injecting Botulinum Toxin (botox) for the treatment of an overactive bladder which has helped millions of patients worldwide (Dasgupta technique). In this episode we ask him about: ...

Prof John McGrath is Professor of Molecular Dermatology, Lead of the Genetic Skin Disease Group and Head of the St John's Institute of Dermatology in London. Professor McGrath is also a recent President of the European Society for Dermatological Research. He is internationally renowned within dermatology, and an expert in Epidermolysis Bullosa.  He also reported the first mutations in hemidesmosomes and desmosomes which was published in Nature Genetics and in fact one of the diseases is named...