Last week I was lucky enough to attend a Lent Talk given by an ex-NHS Chief Executive, in which he talked about his call to work in the NHS for the last 39 years. There were many things that struck me about his story – his values- pride in the service, his humility and obvious leadership abilities. When asked at the end about the state of the NHS and the future – it was refreshing to hear him say how hopeful he is for the future of the service, and that that hope is based on the people he says are currently working in the National Health Service and the people joining the service all the time.

 I’m just coming to the end of being a learning support tutor on an NHS MSc in Healthcare Leadership programme. In that time, I’ve got to know a significant number of current NHS leaders, working all over the UK and in a wide variety of roles. It was lovely to be able to compare my experience with his – the talent and the dedication of the people I’ve worked with over the past two years. They’ve inspired me and have left me full of hope. I’m not advocating blind hope – it’s not that there aren’t huge problems and complexities, but values driven people, learning to collaborate and work together is definitely part of the answer, for the NHS and beyond.