In our leadership roles, we often need to speak to colleagues when their behaviour hasn’t met expectations. These conversations can be difficult, but they can also be compassionately supportive1. When done well, they can help colleagues to understand the feedback, learn from it, and make positive changes. We also spend time coaching clinical service leads […]
Latest articles
You Can Cancel the Words, But You Can’t Cancel the Work. By Monique Brown
“Changing the frame doesn’t mean changing the mission.” Monique Brown reflects on what happens when the language and funding around health equity changes, and why the work itself still matters. Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity (AFHE) brings together health professionals from around the world and across disciplines to build leaders, create solutions and grow community. […]
After Thirlwall, the NHS needs a culture change. By Mélinée Kazarian
Between June 2015 and June 2016, neonatal nurse Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven more on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital. The criminal trial could not answer the harder institutional question: how was she able to keep harming babies for so long, after colleagues had already raised […]
The human cost of being right. By David Díaz-Báez
A researcher spends years developing expertise, publishing papers, securing funding, and earning the recognition of colleagues. Eventually, that success leads to an invitation to direct a research group, an academic department, or a scientific institution. The appointment seems logical. After all, who better to lead science than someone who has demonstrated excellence in producing it? […]
Exploring the case for social psychiatry with the Fathom Trust. By William Beharrell
As a speciality doctor in psychiatry, I often find it illuminating to ask patients what they know about the role of a psychiatrist. A surprising number have no idea whatsoever. A few say something about mind-reading and some are worried about being locked away. The majority seem to expect to be given a pill or […]
Inclusive Health: The Capital We Cannot Afford to Deplete. By Kate B. Hilton and Lindsay Martin
Health care systems experience the consequences of broken trust before they recognise it as the problem: patients disengage, workers leave, teams stop speaking candidly, and communities pull back from the institutions meant to serve them. By then, its erosion has surfaced as turnover, fragmented care, avoidable harm and higher costs. What if we treated trust […]
The Future of Health Equity Starts at the Last Mile. By Mario Jimenez
“For some families, ‘come back another day’ is an inconvenience. For others, it can mean not coming back at all.” Mario Jimenez explores how fragmentation across global health programs can make care harder to access, particularly for the people who already face the greatest barriers. Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity (AFHE) brings together health professionals […]
Tackling cancer misinformation: Lessons from building a public health campaign. By Colin Smith, Melanie Marks Purnode and Alex Ruani
Cancer misinformation is not new, but its reach is. On social media, misleading cancer claims can reach millions and often attract more engagement than evidence-based information. But what can organisations do about it? A public health campaign is one approach. Here, we share what we did and the lessons others can apply. World Cancer Research […]
Integrated Care Board Accountability. By Shiva Pandey
Integrated care boards and their members must be held accountable for decisions that lead to adverse patient outcomes. The National Health Service is undergoing an unprecedented change. Not many of my colleagues, let alone the British public, know that integrated care boards have been instructed to cut their running costs by 50% (NHS England, 2025). […]
Parenthood: an unexpected training ground for leadership. By Robyn Brown
When I returned to work after maternity leave, I found myself thinking about what I had missed. I had been away from clinical practice. I hadn’t been leading projects, attending conferences or taking on additional roles. For a while, it felt like my professional development had paused. Then I realised it hadn’t. Over the previous […]