NEXT GEN NABS: DUNCAN SHREWSBURY

NEXT GEN NABS: DUNCAN SHREWSBURY

What role(s) do you hold at the moment?

I am now working as an academic GP – so I run the Clinical Practice component of the BSMS undergraduate course as one of their senior lecturers, and spend 2 days a week in clinical practice.

Just back in December I changed jobs, stepping down from my role as Local Medical Director – which was hard to do, but absolutely the right decision: I have since joined a small family practice, and feel right at home.

Dr Duncan Shrewsbury
@DuncanShrew

What brings you the most joy at work?

The balance of the two different aspects of my working week keep me on my toes and ensure that I never get bored of either. The best bits in GP are when I feel like I have made a difference to someone…sometimes that can be from being clever (or more likely lucky) with a diagnosis, sometimes (more often) it can come from just being, on ‘their side’ and listening.The university work is challenging and keeps me learning about leading growing and dynamic teams, especially in light of shifting sands, pressures and goal posts (having to re-write an entire term of teaching to work virtually in just a couple of weeks, with no access to the usual university resources, is just one such challenge)!

What is your biggest challenge?

One of the hardest things I have had to do is join an organisation in a leadership role, just as a programme of re-inspection is begun by the CQC. Some aspects of the organisation had been rated as needing special measures, whereas others were ‘unsatisfactory’. I had never had anything to do with a CQC inspection before, and felt many many pairs of eyes looking to me to see where it would go this time.

What I found made the best difference for me (I guess, compared to what people had experienced before in the orgnaisation) was going in with a view that ‘nobody is as clever as everyone’ (least of all me) – so to get the team to share their ideas, concerns and wisdom. The nurses were worried that some numbers relating to their work didn’t seem to tally with their experience, some of our admin team had great ideas about how to set up systems for recalling patients on certain registers. Taking all this on, I found that the way data had been managed and collected mis-represented immunisation and cancer screening rates, and found that there were some clunky bits of processes that were getting in the way of proactively caring for some patients with chronic diseases…most of which were easy to implement once the ideas were laid out and shared.

What’s the best leadership/career advice that you’ve ever recieved?

Be approachable. Be kind. Listen, and help people to feel heard and valued. Also: follow your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it quite probably isn’t

Who do you look up to? 

Gosh… this caught me out – tricky, as it is so easy to compare yourself to others and massively admire what they do…but this can be a double edged sword, and sometimes I think we can often ache to emulate something that is not reasonable for us to follow in our own pair of shoes (if that metaphor makes sense)… There are some incredible academics and clinicians that I admire, and sometimes would love to be more like… but actually, I think it is important to acknowledge that it is ok to really appreciate bits of lots of different people you see around you… without necessarily holding that image as an icon on a pedestal to which you wish to aspire… 

What would you like to achieve by the end of your career?

Gosh… at the moment it is difficult to think beyond next month… World Peace?  ….no, but seriously: I would hope that my work within medical education and community healthcare would see a positive change in the way wider determinants of health are recognised and addressed, especially for marginalised groups. This touches on some of the curriculum reforms I have led in undergraduate medical education, and some of the work I have done with the RCGP and UK government on LGBT+ health inequalities.

What have you learned about yourself in lockdown?

Ugh…that I am nowhere near as good at baking as I thought I was… Also (shock) I am too much of a social being to thrive in isolation!

What are you reading at the moment?……and (no judgement) the last film you watched..

My brother bought me a book called Straight Jacket, although I am making slow progress with it. It does touch on many shared experiences in the gay community and offers some poignant observations.The last film I watched was Hidden Figures. I absolutely love Octavia Spencer, and she is just fabulous in this film – although it does (along with The Help) hold up a mirror to us as a species – how we treat others…there is a risk of seeing some of those patterns as being relegated to the ‘past’…somehow distant from our concern and responsibility…but there are troubling ripples to be seen in the present day at home as well as farther afield.

NEXT GEN NABS: JULIA HEMPENSTALL

NEXT GEN NABS: JULIA HEMPENSTALL

What role(s) do you hold at the moment?

I am a GP in a rural practice in Wiltshire, Clinical Leadership Fellow at Wessex LMCs, Clinical Lead for a diabetes transformation project across Wessex, palliative care GP doc for weekend cover at a hospice and part time primary school teacher while schools are closed!

What brings you the most joy at work?

Working and connecting with people – be that friends, colleagues or patients.

Dr Julia Hempenstall
@iamDrjuliaGP

What is your biggest challenge?

Usually juggling everything, I am a person who is always looking for opportunities and doesn’t say no to anything so my diary can get a bit hectic. Life in lockdown has been a change in the pace of life but it has remained varied, inspiring and mostly fun. Juggling the home contract to include home-schooling 3 children has definately provided the biggest challenge recently.

What’s the best leadership/career advice that you’ve ever recieved?

Oh that is hard to distil into “the best”, especially as the Next Generation GP programme gives you the opportunity to hear so much!! My top favourites are: It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Always aim to be the “best you” even in testing scenarios. Surround yourself with a great team. Recognise and understand your personal strengths so you can use them wisely and don’t have to try to be someone you are not, because ultimately that is exhausting and unsustainable. Investment in self growth is not self-indulgent – look for coaching opportunities and find a mentor. Use 10% of your income keeping your household going!

Who do you look up to? 

I am very fortunate to have had so many role models in my medical career to date and many who I currently work with. Before General Practice I spent 4 years living in New Zealand and I have since developed a leadership crush on their prime minister Jacinda Ardern. I find her compassionate leadership inspiring to watch.

What would you like to achieve by the end of your career?

A balance that has left me with a satisfied feeling that I have made a difference across all parts of my life.

What have you learned about yourself in lockdown?

I am not a good primary school teacher for my own children, it is ok “to just be” meaning I can find happiness and fulfillment without rushing around all the time, I am not very good at icing cakes, I do miss human face to face company but you can achieve so much on a video call so I can see that without driving around I will be able to fit in even more when lockdown relaxes!

What are you reading at the moment?……and (no judgement) the last film you watched..

Lockdown has been good for reading as I am finally reading “Black Box Thinking” by Matthew Syed which was recommended to me ages ago and I am really enjoying it. Last weekend I watched “Knives Out”, and it’s a brilliant who dunnit with a great cast and good twists…I would definately recommend as a good lockdown watch.

NEXT GEN NABS: RAJ PATEL

NEXT GEN NABS: RAJ PATEL

What role(s) do you hold at the moment?

Deputy Medical Director of Primary Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement, GP partner in The Brooke Surgery, Hyde, Greater Manchester. Member of General Medical Council (GMC), Member of BBC Children in Need Committee for the North.

What brings you the most joy at work?

Being retirement age – allows me to say what I think and make “career limiting” comments without worrying.

Raj Patel
@Dr_Raj_Patel

What is your biggest challenge?

Reaching items on the top shelf of supermarkets and keeping everyone happy.

What’s the best leadership/career advice that you’ve ever recieved?

Listen to understand, to really understand, to really really understand the views of people who disagree with you and don’t stop listening until your opponent agrees that you understand their perspective. We usually listen to prepare a reply and not necessarily to understand. Easy to say, hard to do

Who do you look up to? 

an McCrae, the much older chair of my primary care trust when I was early in my leadership journey who gave me the advice above, but it is a clear message in Covey’s seven habits. Now I am close to retirement, I find myself with a role model 20 years younger than me: Nikki Kanani who I initially cautioned for “flying too low” in a senior strategic role. I now admire her style of helicopter leadership where she is able to fly high and then land amongst frontline clinicians, make a personal judgment and then head back to the stratosphere to understand how it all fits strategically…..and she can genuinely multitask.

What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?

Getting into medical school after re-sitting my A-levels. A long time ago, but very few kids from my rough school went to university let alone medical school especially from a BAME background. Collecting my MBE from Her Majesty at Buck House in 2019 wasn’t too bad either.

What have you learned about yourself in lockdown?

I am crap at multitasking. I can’t do zoom / MS team meetings, check my email, WhatsApp, social media, watch Netflix, cook dinner and do my online shopping all at the same time. Despite being a champion for online consulting, I have discovered that I really miss seeing my patients face to face

What are you reading at the moment?……and (no judgement) the last film you watched..

“Getting Things Done” by David Allen, a book on time management I started to read in 2001. I still haven’t finished it. Film: Deadpool and Deadpool 2 featuring a quick witted, foul mouthed, badly behaved anti-superhero whose heart is in the right place. Reminds me of a lot of doctors and nurses I have worked with.

NEXT GEN NABS: RAMMYA MATHEW

NEXT GEN NABS: RAMMYA MATHEW

What role(s) do you hold at the moment?

Just the two, and that feels like plenty at the moment. I’m first and foremost a GP. I also lead a regional quality improvement team. 

Since the pandemic, I’ve been doing whatever needs doing though – including 111 telephone triage and now working in a primary care ‘hot service’, seeing and assessing patients with suspected covid-19.

Rammaya Matthew
@RammyaMathew

What brings you the most joy at work?

I get most joy in being part of a brilliant team. I’ve always been lucky to have colleagues that I can learn from and be inspired by.

What is your biggest challenge?

The quality improvement work gives me great joy, but we are dealing with complex problems and big system change. This means things don’t always go to plan, so it requires resilience and an acceptance that it’s okay to not always ‘succeed’.

What’s the best leadership/career advice you’ve ever recieved?

Be yourself!!

Who do you look up to?

When I was doing my academic GP training, I met Helen Stokes Lampard and was so impressed by her. She was so personable, deeply empathetic and wasn’t afraid of sharing aspects of her personal life and showing her vulnerability. I was not at all surprised when she was elected as Chair of the College some years later.

What would you like to achieve by the end of your career?

I just want to have enjoyed myself, feel like I’ve put my talents to use and to have made good friendships along the way..

What have you learned about yourself in lockdown?

That family is the most important thing to me – seeing my little boy at the end of a long or upsetting day, always seems to make it all better.

What are you reading at the moment? ……and (no judgement) the last film you watched..

The tattooist of Auschwitz. Not a film but watched ‘Unorthodox’ on Netflix, which was just brilliant, so had to share.