What does a career in hospital management potentially offer?
It offers variety, complexity and the ability to make a difference to how care is provided. For example, here in Bristol I’ve been involved with the Medical Director in pushing for a new facility for endoscopy. This has helped us move from an 18 month waiting list to no waiting list. I’ve also introduced lean thinking to simplify processes. For instance, the team in the Oncology Centre used to have three different chemotherapy pathways. Now they’ve designed one pathway. So now everyone knows how chemotherapy should operate. It’s simpler, it’s quicker, it means blood test and notes are more likely to be there than before, it is easier for nurses to cross cover etc. These are examples of how management techniques can have a direct impact on patient care. As a Chief Executive you can encourage these types of development, making sure there is funding for the team and encouraging staff engagement. Q: How does it compare with being a doctor? A: Well, you have to think about the whole organiz
