Professor Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, joins Suhail Mirza on Voices of Care for their third conversation — and there's a lot to cover. Fresh from a CBE and securing a new three-year government contract, Oonagh reflects on what the latest annual workforce report really tells us: vacancy rates are falling, but the picture underneath is far more complex. They dig into the demographic pressures heading our way, why investing in training is one of the smartest retention tools providers have right now, and what the shift to neighbourhood-based care means for social care's place in the system. Plus, Oonagh shares the personal story that shaped her lifelong commitment to equality and inclusion — and why she refuses to let up on it.

In a powerful episode of the Voices of Care podcast (sponsored by Newcross Healthcare), Rukshana Kapasi OBE, Director of Health at Barnardo's, has issued an urgent call for the government to back its ambitious child health policies with concrete metrics and genuine partnership with the voluntary sector - or risk seeing children's health fall down the priority list once again. 

In this episode of Voices of Care, Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, and Karen Bonner, Chief Nurse for London, discuss the pressures facing the nursing profession and their vision for its future. They address critical issues including corridor care, maternity service inequalities, and the urgent need to shift healthcare from hospitals to community settings.

The NHS is imposing "huge costs on itself" through outdated funding practices that are simultaneously draining budgets and blocking access to innovative diagnostic technologies, according to Helen Dent, Chief Executive of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), speaking on Newcross Healthcare's Voices of Care podcast with host Suhail Mirza. 

CEO of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust shares leadership lessons on eliminating racial disparities in staff treatment and preparing for the Government's 10-Year Health Plan: ”We have got to be able to take the pressure off our hospitals. They suck up way more resource now, in terms of percentage of the healthcare budget, than they ever did before."

In a compelling episode of on Voices of Care, Professor Mumtaz Patel, the 123rd President of the Royal College of Physicians and the first South Asian woman to lead the oldest medical Royal College, delivered an urgent assessment of the mounting pressures facing NHS doctors and set out her vision for transforming medical education for the 21st century. 

Speaking on Newcross Healthcare's Voices of Care podcast, Paul Rees MBE, Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, reveals how childhood experiences of racism have shaped his mission to transform the UK's largest healthcare regulator into an anti-racist organisation committed to fairness and equity for all nursing and midwifery professionals.

In conversation with host Suhail Mirza, Stein delivered a frank assessment of the challenges facing the Government’s 10 Year Health, calling for clarity on objectives, upfront investment, and a fundamental shift in organisational culture to ensure any large-scale transformation has a hope of truly succeeding. 

The UK's longest-serving Health Secretary has delivered a comprehensive challenge to the Government's health agenda, warning that tactical thinking and generous pay settlements risk leaving no funding for genuine transformation while social care reform remains ignored.

We brought the microphone to the CMSUK Awards to capture the voices shaping case management and rehabilitation.

Hear from:

🔹 Rhiannon Stokes (Chair, CMSUK) - Why case management needs to start earlier in the client journey

🔹 Stephanie Fleet (CMSUK Director) - Celebrating community and excellence in our fast-paced industry

🔹 Matt Hughes (Dorset Orthopaedic) - How technology and time are giving patients their lives back

🔹 Darren Edwards (Adaptive Adventurer) - From spinal injury to kayaking Land's End to John O'Groats: "Success is an episode, not a solo act"

🔹 Sue Reeve (AVIVA) - Pioneering approaches to catastrophic injury claims

A powerful conversation about hope, determination, and the professionals changing lives every day.