DrDoctor Will See You Now

About DrDoctor Will See You Now

Hosted by market-leading NHS tech provider, DrDoctor, this podcast brings together people from within and around our National Health Service to chat all things digital transformation in the NHS.

Publisher

DrDoctor

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Nov 2025

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

19 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   The Doctor Will See You...Online: Caroline Clarke on Building a New NHS Trust

   Tom returns as host for this new series with Dame Caroline Clarke, two weeks into her role as chief executive of the new NHS Online, for a conversation about her incredible 35-year NHS career - from CIPFA-trained accountant to CEO of the Royal Free, London's regional NHS director, and now building an entirely new NHS Trust from scratch. They chat about why the online hospital has been set up as its own Trust, data centres, nuclear power and the case for a sovereign NHS LLM.

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   From Shed to Scale: Why Great NHS Ideas End Up Abroad

   Tom talks to Professor Tim Whittlestone, surgeon and strategist, as he writes Bristol's healthcare strategy for 2027 to 2037. They argue that the future of care sits less in shiny hospital buildings and more on the high street, in shopping centres and in communities, with genomics, AI and GLP-1s reshaping demand. Tim also shares how lung cancer screening in Bristol reversed a long-standing outcomes gap between rich and poor, and why so many UK health innovators end up scaling abroad.

3. 

   15 Sept 2026

   No Longer on Mute: How a Quiet Girl Became the Leader Our NHS Needs

   DrDoctor Product Director, Brigitte West and Commercial Lead, Lauren Wybrow, step in as guest hosts to talk with Dr Jane Padmore, Chief Executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, about the winding, unplanned route that took her from a quiet pupil in a special needs class to running a half-a-billion-pound NHS mental health trust. Jane talks candidly about growing up in a matriarchal but traditionally gendered household, growing in leadership roles by following curiosity rather than ambition, and building an executive team on values rather than CVs. This powerful conversation explores what authentic leadership actually looks like day-to-day - from crying in meetings to an open office door - and how a late-in-life autism diagnosis reframed how Jane thinks about reasonable adjustments, for her team and, ultimately, for herself.

4. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Robot Doctors, Grassy Fields: Reimagining the NHS with Tim Whittlestone

   Tom sits down with Professor Tim Whittlestone, the new Group Chief Medical and Innovation Officer at Bristol NHS Trust and a consultant urologist of 25 years, to talk about what it really takes to redesign a health system around the patient. Tim traces his own journey from early resistance to robotic surgery through to leading system-wide transformation, arguing that up to 60% of outpatient appointments add little or no value and that data, genomics and wearable technology can shift care out of hospital buildings altogether.

5. 

   19 Aug 2026

   Data, Destiny and the 22nd Century NHS

   In this latest episode with Professor Ian Abbs, we chat about what large-scale health data, agentic technology and a bit of systems thinking could do to reshape care over the next few decades. Tom & Ian explore how large healthcare datasets and agentic AI can enable dynamic outpatient services that focus clinicians’ time on high‑value care, and using natural‑language agentic interfaces to match patients to the right care at the right time. They imagine a future of precision prediction and prevention that improves healthspan, lowers costs, and narrows inequalities through better data and true culture change.

6. 

   30 Jul 2026

   When it Comes to Healthcare, Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

   In this episode, we conclude our conversation with Umang Patel, CCIO at Microsoft. With Tom, they look at a simple observation: patients go home and Google what they've just been told, so the real question is what continuous, trustworthy support looks like once the clinic door shuts. They also chat all things AI governance, language access, the economics of value-based care, and a hard-won lesson about culture from the collapse of Babylon Health.

7. 

   22 Jul 2026

   Cutting the Cost Cake: Why the NHS Keeps Adding Layers It Can't Afford

   In this latest episode with Professor Ian Abbs, formerly CEO at Guy's and St Thomas', unpacks two of healthcare's stickiest problems: why innovation so often gets bolted on rather than swapped in, and what fifty years of EPR deployments actually teach us. Together, they discuss the "cost cake" - the NHS habit of adding a new layer of spend for every new tool, rather than cutting old layers out - acknowledging free pilots make this worse and that suppliers who carry real delivery risk get better outcomes than those who hand over a product and walk away. Ian also reflects on his own experience leading two major EPR deployments: IPM in the early 2000s and Epic at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College Hospital in the 2020s.

8. 

   2 Jul 2026

   1.7 Million Down to 1.2 Million: The Maths Behind Imperial's Booking Revolution

   In this episode, we conclude our conversation with Milica Stjepanovic, Deputy Director of Operations at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, unpacking how the Trust moved from a full to a choice booking model - and what happens when you layer automation on top. Mel shares the phased rollout that took Imperial from two services to Trust-wide adoption, the cultural shift needed to make it stick, and the results: a drop from 1.7 million to 1.2 million booked appointments, with the difference coming out of unnecessary rebooking and DNAs rather than patient access.

9. 

   17 Jun 2026

   A Consultant, a Rare Disease, and a Mum with Gemini

   In part two of our series with Umang Patel, CCIO at Microsoft, Tom and Umang explore what the NHS's digital future really looks like once you get past the infrastructure excuses - and who's actually driving change. Drawing on real clinical encounters, startup lessons, and a candid conversation about purpose vs profit, this episode argues that the bottleneck was never the technology. It was always the context locked inside people's heads - and whether we're brave enough to let go of it.

10. 

    3 Jun 2026

    The Safest Word in Healthcare is No - and For the NHS, That's the Problem

    In episode 2 of our series with Professor Ian Abbs (former CEO of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust), we discuss what it actually takes to lead one of England's largest healthcare organisations - and why the NHS systemically underestimates the risk of doing nothing. Ian traces his CMO-to-CEO transition, his "inverted triangle" leadership philosophy, and the cultural and structural barriers that slow NHS innovation adoption - highlighting DrDoctor's own deployment at GSTT and how, even though DrDoctor was made available to NHS organisations for free via the zero-tariff innovation programme, almost none could execute on it.

11. 

    20 May 2026

    The One Where Imperial Went From 16,000 Overdue Patients to a 59% Drop in Cancellations

    In the second episode of DrDoctor Will See You Now with Imperial College Healthcare, we look at the numbers. Since going live in August of last year, the results have been striking: hospital cancellations down 59%, patient-initiated cancellations down 45%, and the DNA rate dropping to an all-time trust low of 9.4% - with a target of 7% firmly in sight. Mel and Tom also dig into how the backlog is defined and misunderstood, why chronic patients need a different approach, how linked diagnostic appointments are being managed through pre-validation, and the cultural resistance that proved harder to navigate than the operational change itself.

12. 

    13 May 2026

    Eating the Elephant: From Babylon Beginnings to AI-Powered Hospitals

    Microsoft Chief Clinical Information Officer and paediatric doctor, Umang Patel joins the podcast to reflect on his journey from Babylon and early digital health experiments to today’s AI revolution. Having first met in 2012, Tom and Umang discuss lessons from the 2010s, the NHS’s unique strengths, and the growing role of clinicians in leading transformation. The episode explores practical changes now arriving in hospitals - from AI scribes and ambient notes to smarter MDTs and clinician-led innovation - and why this moment feels like a real opportunity to scale better, more equitable care.

13. 

    5 May 2026

    There and Back Again: Ian Abbs on the Life of an NHS Chief Executive

    In this episode, Tom talks with Professor Ian Abbs, former CMO and CEO of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, about his journey from medical school and renal transplantation to hospital leadership and digital health advocacy. They discuss the NHS's organisational changes, the Guy's and St Thomas' merger, the foundation trust era, and the cultural lessons from early clinical computing. Ian reflects on personal experiences with technology, the convergence of biology and AI, and how we can move forward in the digital health ecosystem.

14. 

    10 Apr 2026

    The Era of Choice: What Happened When Imperial Gave Patients Control

    In the latest episode of DrDoctor Will See You Now, we explore the intersection of technology and operational change in the NHS with Milica Stjepanovic, Deputy Divisional Director of Operations at Imperial College Healthcare Trust NHS. With Tom, she discusses giving patients options, control and agency through Choice Booking of appointments, as well as the operational and patient experience benefits this has delivered. (Part 1/3)

15. 

    27 Jan 2026

    Healthcare Under a Microscope: Time Bombs, Frightened Horses and…the NHS on WhatsApp?

    In this final episode of our two-part series, Tom Whicher and Professor Joe MacDonald take a look at what the NHS needs next: build on what already works (shared care records, EPR foundations) and add the missing coordination layer that patients and carers feel most acutely. Joe argues the NHS is unprepared for the “demographic time bomb” of ageing, multi-morbidity, and end-of-life care, and that today carers often become the de facto integrators across fragmented services. They also explore a (not so distant) future where AI assistants reduce admin, support clinicians with triage and summarisation, and enable more care at home. The closing message? After a long “trough”, the NHS has changed culturally and could lead the world if it regulates for open standards and invests in scaling proven innovations. Buy Joe's new book FHIR and Loathing in Las Vegas here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FHIR-Loathing-Vegas-Prof-McDonald/dp/B0FRYDV52G

16. 

    21 Jan 2026

    Goldilocks and the Big Shiny Project: Why Government IT Programmes Fail

    In this episode of DrDoctor Will See You Now, Tom Whicher speaks with Professor Joe McDonald (clinical psychiatrist; former National Clinical Lead for IT in mental health; advisory board member at The Access Group; and Digital Health royalty) about why large, centralised government IT programmes repeatedly fail, and what the NHS should do instead. They explore the “Goldilocks” project size: when budgets get too large, incentives and behaviours distort, and delivery becomes politically driven rather than user-driven, as well as the current state of UK digital health innovation, where we are seeing major near-term opportunities in ambient voice technology (AVT) to reduce clinician admin burden and unlock productivity. Plus, the longer-term promise of NHS data to enable better treatment decisions and proactive risk identification, cautioning against the ethical risks of LLM-based therapy chatbots for serious mental health needs. Buy Joe's new book FHIR and Loathing in Las Vegas here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FHIR-Loathing-Vegas-Prof-McDonald/dp/B0FRYDV52G

17. 

    25 Nov 2025

    From Letters to Lifelines: A Conversation with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Episode 3

    DrDoctor Co-founder & CEO, Tom Whicher and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust CCIO, James Woollard and CDIO, Alison Furzer conclude their conversation on digital transformation at Oxleas. In this final episode, we explore how ambient/AI scribe tools, agentic AI and tight EPR integration can remove “grit” from clinical workflows while protecting the cognitive space clinicians need to think. Value won’t come from flashy standalone tools but from small, compounded frictions removed across pathways - referrals, booking, documentation - and from better design and governance. What is truly needed is pragmatic risk-taking powered by fast feedback loops, simulation, and shared learning across Trusts. The destination is a more personalised, hybrid model of care where patients choose how they interact with their healthcare. Here's a snapshot of what they discussed: Ambient/AI scribes are promising but unfinished: Core capability exists, but the last 5–10% (identity context, EPR data pull-through, admin niceties) determines real value and adoption Friction kills adoption: Tiny annoyances aggregating into “marginal pain” that erodes clinician goodwill Protect clinicians’ thinking time: If AI drafts notes, we still need to make space for reflection previously embedded in manual write-ups Prompt engineering as operating discipline: Prompts are the practical bridge between policy and reality; overfitting prompts to one team harms generalisability Pathway redesign > bolt-ons: Why we should aim for standardised capabilities applied across settings and full “vertical” pathway changes Risk, agility and feedback loops: Enabling safe experimentation by starting small, instrumenting feedback, and building an organisational “nervous system” to course-correct quickly Personalisation at scale: Moving beyond “letters” to structured data and interfaces patients choose (text, voice, avatars) Culture is the unlock: Successful change blends operational, financial and clinical rationales, shared learning across Trusts, and design literacy

18. 

    19 Nov 2025

    From Letters to Lifelines: A Conversation with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Episode 2

    DrDoctor Co-founder & CEO, Tom Whicher and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust CCIO, James Woollard and CDIO, Alison Furzer continue their conversation on digital transformation at Oxleas. They look at why digital change in mental health and community services is less a tech problem and more a people-and-process one, unpacking staff assumptions, the tension between clinician control and patient agency, moving from time-based to data-based follow-ups, and what actually unlocks adoption. Here's what they discussed: Culture > tech: Some of the biggest blockers are actually behavioural, like assumptions about patient preferences and worries about getting things “wrong” Patient agency shift: Let patients choose if they want to move to digital, instead of staff deciding who is "appropriate" Clinical leadership matters: Successful uptake correlates with senior clinical champions who tolerate a period of double-running and drive new ways of working Boots-on-the-ground enablement: Admin teams guiding patients through first-time logins during calls builds “muscle memory” and cuts future phone traffic Friction is fatal: Even small hurdles push staff to “least-worst” paper choices; embed access and simplify IG flows IG as an enabler: Modern information governance is collaborative, shifting from blocking to pragmatically enabling safe, high-ROI use Integration vs surfacing: Technical integration has improved, but the win is where and how information is surfaced for staff and patients From read-only to transactional: Shared care records need to evolve from viewing data to acting on it

19. 

    11 Nov 2025

    From Letters to Lifelines: A Conversation with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Episode 1

    In the first of a three-part series, DrDoctor Co-founder & CEO Tom Whicher caught up with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust CCIO, James Woollard and CDIO, Alison Furzer to explore Oxleas’ pioneering journey in digital mental health and patient engagement - from early adoption of electronic patient records to their collaboration with us, enhancing digital communication and engagement with patients and families. Here's what they discussed: Early adopters: How Oxleas became one of the first NHS Trusts to adopt an electronic patient record nearly 20 years ago, setting the foundation for continued innovation Co-design and innovation: How Oxleas’ ADHD team co-designed an early patient engagement platform, allowing secure messaging, digital diaries, and feedback tools to engage young people Oxcare: What led them to create and ultimately publish Oxcare, a patient engagement platform co-designed with staff and patients Partnership with DrDoctor: Why Oxleas chose DrDoctor to power its next-generation engagement tools (starting with digital appointment letters) Early results show 44% uptake across the Trust, saving time, money, and reducing paper waste Behavioural and cultural change: Why there needs to be a mindset shift when it comes to digital transformation - for the sake of patients and staff Sending a digital letter via DrDoctor costs under 4p versus 84p for postage - tangible savings and environmental wins What's coming next: How Oxleas aims to reach 70% digital uptake, from pre-appointment questionnaires to therapeutic self-management content and integration with the NHS App

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