Mr Nour Hanga
Nour U Hanga completed his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery MBBS at the Prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria in 2012. Nour served as a houseman at the Aminu Kano Regional Teaching Hospital, Nigeria until 2014. He then worked as a research clinician for the Community Acquired Pneumonia and Invasive Bacteraemic Disease (CAPIBD) study with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
After a series of professional exams, Nour became fully registered with General Medical Council in 2015 and enrolled into a two year core surgical training programme with the Southampton General Hospital. Nour rotated through neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, Surgical High Dependency Unit and general surgery. Nour has gained his Membership with the Royal College of Surgeons, England. He has also led several quality improvement projects that have led him to co-author revision of Trust wide guidelines on peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis in Neurosurgery at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.
In 2017, Nour got admitted with the Imperial College London where he mastered in Health Policy. He particularly took interest in health care financing and undertook a systematic review on health insurance in Low and Middle Income Countries.
Subsequently, Nour continued to pursue his clinical interest in the neurosciences working as a clinical fellow in neurosurgery, neurology and stroke. He is currently an ST5 in rehabilitation medicine with a special interest in neurorehabilitation and major trauma work.
Reason for applying for the scheme
Nour’s approach to improvement is to understand drivers to the evolution of often restrictive and sometimes inefficient policies that influence his clinical practice. He took time out of clinical training and completed a Master’s degree in Health Policy. This taught him theory of health systems and policy, health economics, healthcare leadership, measuring and improving performance in health care. Combining this understanding with clinical insight positions him to usefully implement change.
Since his return to clinical practice, he has searched to find opportunities both in time and space that will allow him to put into practice theories he has learnt. With only basic experience in this area, Nour has always yearned for mentorship in this regard which this prestigious fellowship aptly provides.
There are timely changes to commissioning in his specialty of rehabilitation that will amplify impact of his learning from the Fellowship. Commissioning of specialist neurological rehabilitation services is moving from NHS England funding to commissioning within Integrated Care Systems. This presents opportunity to impact on service provision for patient benefit, applying clinical leadership to the design of regionally relevant clinical pathways. At the same time, there are new tariff proposals which signal a move towards ‘outcome based’ payments. This is particularly challenging for his cohort of patients who are the most complex patients with relatively poorer outcomes.
These big shifts that have far reaching implications on his cohort of patients require stakeholder involvement. Developing leadership skills and maintaining networks are essential in preparing young clinicians for such important engagements.
