Dr Brendan Spooner
Brendan Spooner a trainee in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine based in the Midlands. He graduated from Birmingham University with honours in 2008, after which he flirted with a few different medical careers. He spent a year working in General Medicine in New Zealand, following which he began a career in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine based in the West Midlands. The work is extremely broad, rewarding, often challenging and it is a privilege to spend time working in almost all areas of the hospital, with almost all specialities.
He has taken a keen interest in leading quality improvement projects predominantly in communication and patient safety, some of which have been presented internationally. He has recently taken on trainee leadership roles in governance and as a trainee service lead in one of the largest Critical Care Departments in Europe. During these roles he co-led a project to install a patient safety bulletin, developed new handover practices and ran a project analysing junior workforce workload.
Outside of clinical medicine, he was an active member of the medical school society committee and chaired the football club. These experiences provided the impetus to form and chair a new football club for postgraduates when he left university.
He has become interested in leadership and management because of frustration with the apparent disengagement between management and clinical practice. He is undertaking this fellowship to improve his leadership skills and understanding of the healthcare landscape, so he can be a positive influence for improving the NHS when he returns to clinical work. He strongly believes there is enough talent within the NHS medical workforce to effect positive and meaningful improvements in the NHS, but it needs to be nurtured and developed. He also feels that trainees have an under-utilised and unique perspective on the NHS by virtue of rotating throughout a region and working at numerous organisations. This perspective needs to be mobilised and trainees should feel empowered to make suggestions for change, feel listened to and be prepared to lead.
At the GMC, Brendan Spooner is looking forward to joining the corporate directorate, where he hopes to see leadership first-hand and gain an understanding of how organisations make strategic decisions.
When not at work, he can be found developing his negotiation skills with his two young children and perhaps the fellowship will help him here too.
