For ten years Alastair Campbell was Tony Blair's right-hand man as communications strategist and chief spokesman, often witnessing history in the making. Whilst he remains an influential voice and commentator on the political stage, he's now well-known as a writer and campaigner, particularly on mental health awareness. He is the Editor At Large of The New European.

In the years running up to Labour's 1997 landslide win, and throughout their timein power, Alastair led communications strategy and was also no stranger tocontroversy. He is one of four figures credited with creating the New Labour project, fighting numerous battles in their pursuit of modernisation, including with how the media portrayed the party. He was reviled by some parts of the media but still respected for his commitment, creativity, loyalty, and work rate.

After leaving frontline politics Alastair has written seventeen books, including ten volumes of diaries, four novels, a number one best-selling analysis of what it takes to win in politics, business, and sport, and two personal memoirs on depression and the pursuit of happiness.

He has been candid about his personal experiences of depression, alcoholism, and mental illness, frequently examining the links between work, stress, and mental health. It's a subject he's tackled in numerous interviews, documentaries, and podcasts, and in his books Living Better: How I Learned to Survive Depression, The Happy Depressive: In Pursuit of Personal and Political Happiness, and Living Better: How I learned to survive depression.

Alastair co-hosts the podcast The Rest is Politics with Rory Stewart, where they tackle the latest developments in global politics and share their insights into the complex relationships within Parliament. He works with many charities, as an advisor and often as a fund-raiser, including Leukaemia Research, Bloodwise, and a number of mental health charities, including the Time to Change campaign and Alcohol Concern. Alastair believes we should be as open about our mental health as we are about our physical health, and that every business should have first Mental Health First Aid training.

He frequently contributes articles in the media including The Guardian, and the Telegraph. For several years, Alastair wrote a monthly interview for GQ magazine, and has covered figures as varied as Prince William and Jose Mourinho, Al Gore and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nicola Sturgeon, and Nicola Adams.

With humour and insight Alastair takes an insider’s look at politics at home and abroad, as well as what it takes to be a successful leader (a subject he tackled in his book Winners: And How They Succeed). He also tackles reputation, his own and how others manage theirs, the media, mental health, and why people still ask him about The Thick of It so much.

Jason Ahern is a Registered Nurse who has over 30 years NHS experience, in the acute care setting.

Prior to working at UHNM Trust for the last 20 years, Jason worked in the private sector for over two years, in IT Consultancy, which culminated in spending time working for the United Nations World Food Programme, in Rome, where he fell in love with the Eternal City, and returned several years later, for his honeymoon.

Jason is a self-proclaimed nerd, with a lifelong passion for IT, which includes developing web-based solutions which are used by UHNM Trust.

This passion has spilled over into HealthRoster’s use, where Jason has innovated by developing custom database reporting tools, which make his team’s working practices sleeker and more pro-active, while also improving data quality and the Trust’s reporting capabilities, which includes an operational dashboard, which leverages the Trust’s HealthRoster data in a different way. Building these tools is an on-going journey, stretching the boundaries of what’s deemed possible, and the “Art of the Possible”.

In his downtime, Jason enjoys reading a good book, surrounded by a herd of curled-up, very lazy, cats.

Elaine and Kim are NHS Tayside's Senior eRostering Facilitator/Analysts who have been involved with the rollout of the HealthRoster products since first implementations in 2014.
Safecare and Real Time Staffing Solutions in NHS Tayside

What we hope people will be able to take away from the session will be:

- An opportunity to learn from our experience
- How NHS Tayside use Safecare
- Understanding the importance of clinical input at all levels

Mark is Vice Chair of KPMG UK and a Global Expert on Health Systems. For 11 years, Mark was Global Head of Healthcare at KPMG International and Global Chair of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare for 3 years. In that time, Mark oversaw $7 billion of annual revenue , supporting 45,000 staff across 157 countries.

He is one of the foremost global experts on healthcare systems and has a pioneering and inspiring global vision for health in both the developed and developing world. Mark has dedicated his entire professional life to healthcare and has led organisations at local, regional, national and global levels – provider and payer, public and private. Over the past 11 years, he has worked in over 80 countries on circa. 345 occasions, gaining a unique first-hand experience.

Mark was appointed Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham in 2000. He masterminded the largest new hospital build in NHS history, established the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and developed one of the highest performing healthcare organisations in the UK.

He went on to run the NHS region from Oxford to the Isle of Wight before joining the NHS Management Board as a Director-General at the Department of Health, where he developed High Quality Care for All with Lord Darzi. He joined KPMG as Global Chairman and Senior Partner for Health in 2009 and has established a successful worldwide health practice.

Between 2014 and 2018, Mark sat as a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Health Sector for the World Economic Forum and sits on the Advisory Board of the China Center for Health Development at Peking University. He is also an Honorary Professor at Taishan Medical University School, Shandong Province and holds honorary doctorates from Birmingham City University and the University of Wolverhampton.

Mark is the author of "In Search of the Perfect Health System", published by Palgrave Macmillian. The book has sold in over 109 countries, including translations into Mandarin, Korean and Portuguese, and was recognised by Chinese Medical Doctors Association as best health book in China in 2017, and in the UK by the British Medical Association, 2016. Mark’s new book, “Human: solving the global workforce crisis in healthcare” was published by Oxford University Press in March 2019. It sold out it’s first print run in 4 months and was recently translated to into Mandarin.

Mark has been a Non-Executive Director at Dr Foster, a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and a Board member of Prostate Cancer UK. He survived prostate cancer at the age of 42 and has donated all royalties from the sale of this book to Prostate Cancer UK. He is a Board Trustee of the King’s Fund and Executive in Residence at the Rotman School of Management, Toronto.

Joined AWP temp staffing team in 2014, a year later moved into eRostering. Currently leading on SafeCare and Medical rostering implementations. Outside of work I’m a proud member of Y Wal Goch and very much looking forward to watching Wales play at their first world cup since 1958.

Erica has worked in the NHS since 2014 after being inspired by the remarkable care she received following major surgery. She then made the move into the e-Rostering world over 6 years ago, spending 5 of those at King’s College Hospital in Southeast London as an e-Rostering Advisor with a focus on training and implementation. Specifically, she has worked on developing and implementing the new training packages over the last 2 years and is effectively the team’s Training Lead.

Chris has a background in both private and public sector business development, communications and leadership; operating at a senior level, with more than 25 years’ experience.

As Director of Engagement for the Care Quality Commission Chris drives changes in the way the regulator operates and how its voice acts as a catalyst for debate and improvement in the wider health and care system.

Before his career in health and care, Chris worked in the transport sector, where he held several large operational roles before focussing on organisational change - the subject of the MBA thesis.

Outside work Chris is an ECB cricket coach and player.

Jonathan is the Head of Safety and Learning at NHS Wales and is currently heading up the Once for Wales Concerns Management System, which will standardise patient safety approaches and share critical trends, insights and recommendations by deploying the RLDatix system across all Health Boards in Wales, United Kingdom.

As a registered paramedic, Jonathan was recently deployed back to the frontline during the Coronavirus pandemic, providing frontline support to the [TBC] area. As an experienced Clinical Mentor and has worked in the NHS since 1990.

Having completed a degree in Education at Wolverhampton University and studied Management at University of Reading Henley Business School, Jonathan has completed a Masters degree in Occupational Health & Safety at Loughborough University.

Jonathan is a Panel Member for the Health & Safety Executive and is a Chartered Health & Safety Practitioner. He undertakes specialist work place reviews for staff needing adjustments and is a specialist in asbestos inspection and abatement planning.

Working as a Partner with the Health & Social Care Professions Council, Jonathan undertakes Registration Assessments and reviews CPD profiles for registered healthcare professionals.

Prior to joining Legal & Risk Services in 2016, Jonathan was Head of Risk Management in an English Acute Trust. He has previously held a similar role in Guernsey, where he was responsible for coordinating a States-Wide Risk Register & Assurance Programme. He has also undertaken a role with a national retailer – focussing on risk management in the boardroom.

Jonathan maintains his clinical practice by working as a Paramedic at Silverstone Race Circuit and providing medical response services at sporting events.

Janet is an experienced e-Rostering administrator, working within the NHS for over 16 years now, the last 8 working exclusively in implementation and training. She is the team’s implementation and performance manager, working on improvement and productivity.

Matthew Syed is an author and highly acclaimed speaker in the field of high performance. He has written six best-selling books on the subject of mindset and high performance – Bounce, Black Box Thinking, Rebel Ideas, The Greatest, and his celebrated children’s books, You Are Awesome and Dare To Be You – and has worked with many leading organisations to build a mindset of continuous improvement. He is also a multi-award-winning journalist for The Times and The Sunday Times and presenter of the popular BBC Radio 4 programme, Sideways, currently in its fourth series. Matthew is a regular contributor to television and radio and, in his previous career, was the England table tennis number one for almost a decade.

In his most recent best seller – Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking - Matthew argues that individual intelligence is no longer enough to solve today’s complex problems; to truly succeed we must harness the power of 'cognitive diversity'. Rebel Ideas uncovers the best-kept secrets of the world's most successful teams, bringing insights from psychology, anthropology and data science, whilst drawing on a dazzling range of intriguing case-studies.

Matthew’s work explores a thought-provoking approach to high performance in the context of a complex and fast-changing world. By understanding the intimate connection between mindset and high performance, organisations can unlock untapped potential in individuals and teams, driving innovation and agility to secure a future-proofed environment. A TEDx video of Matthew speaking about growth mindset can be viewed on YouTube.

Matthew is also co-founder of Matthew Syed Consulting (MSC); the company has worked with an impressive portfolio of clients to build growth mindset cultures and drive higher performance in individuals, teams and organisations. Matthew Syed Consulting’s cutting-edge thought leadership programme and digital learning tools are becoming a catalyst for real and lasting change within business and the public sector.

Matthew also works very closely with the education sector to help improve mindsets in schools and young people. He is an active founding member of the charity Greenhouse Sports and an ambassador for the PiXL Educational Foundation.

To find out more about Matthew’s work, visit: www.matthewsyed.co.uk or contact his team at [email protected].

Jonathan is the Head of Risk and Assurance at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS). He started his working career in a private healthcare organisation and joined the NHS in 2016. Jonathan has worked in a variety of quality, risk management and assurance positions. Whilst working in these positions Jonathan has developed a passion for the RLDatix systems and how these can improve and enhance governance, risk and compliance within health and social care settings.

I joined the Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust (RDUH) in 2005 in an Admin role and has been involved in electronic rostering since 2009. In 2009 I achieved a BA (Hons) degree and progressed to working within the rostering team during the implementation of electronic rostering for the RDUH. I’m enthusiastic about all things rostering and enjoy working closely with all users from EOL through to senior management to maximise effective rostering through increased support and sharing of knowledge.

I returned from maternity leave in 2019 passionate and determined and, with support of my team, we reviewed the entire system and internal processes. Over the last two years the team and I have worked closely with the Nightingale Hospital and Mass Vaccination teams configuring rosters that interface with other Trust’s ESR for payroll, and responding to difficulties in staffing by trialling centralised rostering for inpatient areas for a Division.

Darren trained in emergency medicine in the north west of England as well as Australia and, following an initial subspecialty interest in medical education, worked in several leadership roles in Greater Manchester alongside his consultant post.

He holds a Masters in Healthcare Business Administration from Keele Business School and his PhD thesis examined the sociological aspects of medical training in the UK. He also sits on NHS Employers’ Medical Workforce Forum and advises NHS Improvement in relation to bank and agency pay in healthcare.

Simon Courage has led the direction of the company’s workforce management solutions for the past 12 years. In that time he has worked with hundreds of NHS organisations to understand the challenges faced in deploying the workforce safely and efficiently. He is particularly interested in how innovative technology can support nurses, increasing their buy-in and helping bring teams together to solve the big challenges healthcare organisations face. His direct experience and knowledge of both UK healthcare as well as his experience overseas in Australia, USA and Europe has led him to be invited to speak at multiple industry events on the challenges of effective workforce deployment in NHS organisations today.

I am an applied health services researcher and a senior research fellow in primary care at the University of Manchester. Since January 2020, I have been working as a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Senior Fellow based in the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (GM PSTRC). The GM PSTRC is a partnership between The University of Manchester and the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and is the largest of three national PSTRCs in the UK worth in excess of £17 million.

As a biostatistician by background, I completed my PhD in Medical Statistics in 2016 and since then I have continued my career in health services and primary care. My vision is to implement research which can improve the wellbeing, recruitment, and retention of the workforce in primary care, and to help develop research that is translatable into better healthcare polices for promoting high quality, safe primary care and interfaces. My major interests are to provide safe, high quality health care to all patients including vulnerable people with mental ill health or vulnerable people in social care systems.

I have been working for CPFT for over 12 years across a variety of teams including admin support for social care and district nursing teams before joining the rostering team in 2016. I have been the e-Rostering Team Manager since 2019 and am fortunate enough to lead a fantastic team who always strive for excellence.

Elaine and Kim are NHS Tayside's Senior eRostering Facilitator/Analysts who have been involved with the rollout of the HealthRoster products since first implementations in 2014.
Safecare and Real Time Staffing Solutions in NHS Tayside

What we hope people will be able to take away from the session will be:

- An opportunity to learn from our experience
- How NHS Tayside use Safecare
- Understanding the importance of clinical input at all levels