Are you ready to take a walk and listen to the birds?

In this week’s episode of SoWhoCaresAnyway, I’m joined by James Metcalfe, CEO of the North York Moors Trust, to explore the transformative power of nature. With James we are taken on a journey to discover why reconnecting with the outdoors isn’t just a luxury but a crucial necessity for improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

James’s passion really shines through as he shares his journey from Westminster as an Advisor to a leader at the North York Moors Trust. Supporting people to overcome barriers to accessing outside spaces, working with Andys Man Club schools, and pupil referral units James demonstrate the profound difference these initiatives have made, inspiring hope and improving health and well-being in unexpected ways. 

By embracing the outdoors and supporting others to do the same, we not just enriching lives—we transform health outcomes and building stronger, more connected communities. 

James’s drive for meaningful change shines through, so join us for a journey of discovery and become a champion of the Natural Health Service 

Are you ready to discover the true power of systems leadership?

In this episode, I’m delighted to be joined by Heidi Edmunds, Clinical and Operations Manager at Whitstable Urgent Treatment Centre. Having known Heidi since 2016, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing her incredible journey and the transformative impact her leadership has had—not just on her team and organisation, but across the wider healthcare system.

Heidi’s story is one of growth, dedication, and innovation. With over two decades of experience in urgent and emergency care, she has evolved from a newly qualified nurse to a Nurse Consultant, driven by her passion for fostering supportive, development-focused environments. Her leadership embodies compassion and collaboration, creating networks that enable shared learning and effective system-wide collaboration.

In our conversation, Heidi shares insights on navigating the challenges of healthcare, from addressing burnout and clinical uncertainty to introducing clinical supervision as a safe space for staff support. As an advocate for workforce well-being, Heidi believes that supporting the team is key to delivering the best patient care.

We also explore her experiences with imposter syndrome, the importance of stepping into leadership roles, and how her distributed leadership approach supports the development of urgent treatment centres across Kent and Medway.

Join me for an inspiring discussion about how compassionate leadership, supported by strong networks, can transform individuals, teams, and systems. Heidi’s story is a powerful reminder of the impact of leading with heart and vision.

Show resources

Multiprofessional framework for advanced practice

Consultant Practice

Emma Snow - Episode 9

The Five Giants

In this fascinating episode of #SoWhoCaresAnyway, meet Emma Snow  CEO of The Five Giants Foundation. Emma shares her remarkable journey—from working in prominent roles within a variety of charities to navigating her own challenges as an end-of-life care patient with Huntington’s disease. These experiences fuelled her passion to embed #SystemsThinking, an approach that focuses on understanding and addressing interconnected challenges, into health and social care. 

Emma takes us on a captivating journey, driven by passion and discovery, as she uncovers #TheFiveGiants, originally introduced in the Beveridge Report. Emma reveals their deep connection to her own great-grandfather, John Tomley, a pivotal figure in the creation of the NHS alongside Nye Bevan. 

Emma then explains how The Five Giants—housing, sanitation and environment; unemployment; poverty; health and social care services; and education—are key determinants of health, emphasising their interdependence and that tackling them together is essential to preventing cycles of inequality and promoting positive health outcomes. 

Come away inspired by Emma's vision and with a deeper understanding of the five giants and systems thinking to move from vicious to virtuous circles of continuous improvement. A must-listen. 

Episode resources

Emma's book The First NHS,  gives the history of the Five Giants, her great grandfather John Tomley's role in setting up the NHS and her own story as a patient:

The First NHS

To find out more about me please visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful, please consider supporting me to continue these podcasts by buying me a coffee Your support is much appreciated.

Are you ready to be awed and inspired?

In this next episode of #SoWhoCaresAnyway, Dr Mark Spencer takes us on a transformational journey that starts with listening and litter picking and ends with creating hope and having fun.

Mark has been a GP in Fleetwood, a small ex-fishing town on the northwest coast of England, for over 30 years and is now the clinical director for Fleetwood Primary Care Network. Witnessing the decline in his community’s health and wellbeing after the fishing fleet's decommissioning in the 1970s, Mark set out to ignite change by bringing people together and asking the simple question: #WhatMatters.

Fleetwood is now flourishing. Through small actions and community empowerment, Fleetwood's greatest asset, its people, have embraced a new approach, moving beyond #DoWith to taking ownership of their community’s future.

Beyond Fleetwood, Mark plays a vital role nationally as co-chair of the NHS Confederation national PCN Network  

To find out more about me please visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful, please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee Your support is much appreciated.

In this episode of "So Who Cares Anyway?" I am excited to introduce an insightful conversation with Sarah Trust, a clinical pharmacist who works across five general practices within one Primary Care Network.

Sarah shares her evolving perspective on prescribing and how her experience has shaped her approach to patient care. "The more experienced I get, the less I prescribe," she states, emphasising the importance of supporting people to understand their condition and the medications they take, and in turn, understanding each patient's unique context, finding the most effective ways to support their health and well-being.

Amongst other areas, Sarah talks about pain and pain management, explaining that sometimes the best way to support people isn't through medication, as it is not always in our gift to pharmacologically change pain. Highlighting the limitations of medication in pain management, Sarah focuses on holistic, person-centred approaches. Through these approaches, Sarah has dramatically improved medication management within the Primary Care Network she works in and enhanced people’s quality of life. Sarah also supports her team, sharing her learning, knowledge, and skills through both informal and formal education.

Tune in to hear more about how Sarah personalises care by understanding both the population she serves and the individuals she cares for, supporting them beyond prescriptions. Sarah's commitment to holistic and person-centred care is truly inspiring.

Episode resources

Live well with pain 

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support is much appreciated

In this next episode of "So Who Cares Anyway?" I am thrilled to introduce Dr Rebecca Myers, an incredible advocate for healthcare transformation.

Having first encountered Rebecca on LinkedIn, where she shared an insightful article co-authored with Alison Leary titled "Why are healthcare professionals leaving NHS roles?" I knew I had to invite her to discuss this further. As I read this article, so much of what it said resonated with me from my own personal experience of working as a nurse in the NHS. 

Rebecca, a registered nurse with a strong community background, is a Board Trustee at the Queen's Nursing Institute, Visiting Associate Professor at London South Bank University, and an Organisational Development Practitioner. Together, we delve into the critical issues facing healthcare professionals today, the often overlooked emotional labour as an inconvenient truth, and the toll it takes on healthcare workers.

Tune in to hear about the importance of supporting healthcare workers emotionally, the value of the therapeutic relationship, and the need for honest conversations about the limitations of the system. We also explore how widening the team, collective leadership, and recognising the contributions of social sciences can help create a more compassionate healthcare environment.

Don't miss this enlightening conversation on the real challenges and potential solutions in healthcare. 

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our community. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support will be much appreciated

In this next episode of SoWhoCaresAnyway, I am delighted to introduce Phil Ward, director of the Eastern Applied Research Consortium https://easternarc.ac.uk/ Having first met Phil in 2020, I became intrigued by how a collaborative of research-intensive universities might support the health and wellbeing of their communities. My initial thoughts were, heritage and health? How does that link? But as Phil explains in this episode, the work of the Eastern ARC is much broader, and its impact on health and well-being is vast. So, listen in to hear more about how, under Phil’s leadership, four key focus areas emerged: coast, food, heritage, and sanctuary. The consortium not only links the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, the University of Kent, and the University of Sussex, but also aims to work together with communities and other regional stakeholders, including NHS trusts, integrated care boards, charities, galleries, and museums, to address various challenges and make a positive impact on their communities.

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our community. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support will be much appreciated

Welcome to another episode of "So Who Cares Anyway" Where I am delighted to introduce my extraordinary guest, Kim Manley. Kim has had a huge impact upon me, how I work, think, and what I do, supporting and challenging me along the way.

Kim’s impressive career includes establishing multi-professional consultant practice, seamlessly integrating professional expertise, system leadership, embedded research, and workforce transformation. In this episode Kim shares her insights into this practice, emphasising the development of consultant practitioners who are empowered to act as collaborative systems leaders with the credibility and influence needed to drive transformation. Based upon the work that Kim has herself developed, Kim then shares her insights into Practice Development to achieve person-centred, safe, effective care, co-creating and co-producing with people, and creating learning cultures through leadership and skilled facilitation. Kim continues to talk about how we make sure Continuous Professional Development is impactful, transforming career pathways, cultures of care, and knowledge translation.

In recognition of her contributions to quality patient services, Kim was awarded the CBE in 2000. With over 165 publications and 6 edited books, Kim was identified as one of the Nursing Times top 50 leaders in 2015 and recognised as one of seventy nurses having the most impact on the NHS in its 70-year celebrations in 2018.

So, join me for an insightful conversation with Kim Manley, where we delve into the intricacies of workforce transformation and its impact on sustainable change in healthcare.

Useful related links; 

https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Multi-professional%20framework%20for%20advanced%20clinical%20practice%20in%20England.pdf 

https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Sept%202020%20HEE%20Consultant%20Practice%20Capability%20and%20Impact%20Framework.pdf

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our community. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support will be much appreciated

In this episode, I am delighted to be joined by Farah Virani. Farah, who worked as an orthoptist for ten years, shares how her redeployment during the Covid-19 pandemic was a moment of awakening. She witnessed the real challenges and complexities faced by people working in large organizations and the cascade of ramifications one decision might have.

Since then, driven by her passion for hearing and supporting others, Farah has taken on roles where she can be creative, respectfully disruptive, ask powerful questions, and lead transformative change. From tackling a Darzi Fellow challenge, listening to 4,684 people and leading the creation of 50 grassroots community-led well-being projects, to embedding bespoke IT systems for care in the NHS with Cloud 21, and her voluntary work with TEDxNHS, where people share their unique stories.

Listen to hear more about Farah’s journey, her achievements, and how, by listening to people's stories, not just seeing big patterns but uncovering small golden nuggets, she continues to make impactful change.

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our community. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support will be much appreciated

In this second episode of #SoWhoCaresAnyway I'm delighted to introduce Adam Lent, a senior consultant in the leadership and organisational development team at the King's Fund. In this episode Adam will introduce the #DoWith movement. Recognising the innovative and impactful work that people are doing Adam discuss the challenges of achieving these innovations that focus on doing things with people, emphasising what matters and works for them—whether they are people in our communities or frontline staff providing care.

Join us as Adam shares insights, inspiring stories, and launches the #DoWith movement.

“Don’t take the status quo as the way to go” Adam Lent

Join the Call to Action via #DoWith

Sign up for the #DoWith event on the 26th March Kings Fund DoWith event

Or email [email protected] to find out more about how to become a part of this inspiring social movement for change

About the Host

To find out more about Ruth Germaine visit Reflective Ruth at LinkTree 

I am passionate about developing integrated health and social care and creating wider systems that support the health and wellbeing of our community. If you enjoy this podcast and find it useful please consider supporting me by buying me a coffee  Your support will be much appreciated