Dr Mark Newbold: a rare NHS boss on Twitter

In Health Service Journal’s recent online Twitter chat, NHS consultant anaesthetist Dr Suparna Das tweeted about what a great leveller Twitter is (replying to Joe McCrea of Cogitamus Health Practice):

But that only works if bosses are actually on Twitter. And of the chief executives of the 10 largest NHS acute trusts in England (measured by staff numbers collected by the NHS Information Centre) nine are men, four have knighthoods, but – based on some searching, and happily subject to correction – only one appears to be active on Twitter. The exception that proves the rule is Dr Mark Newbold, chief executive of Birmingham’s Heart of England foundation trust, who has more than 1,300 followers.  He also blogs: a post on 10 reasons why his peers should join him on Twitter cites openness, accessibility, learning from others and engagement with communities. On Twitter itself, Dr Newbold often uses his account to answer questions and engage in debate, such as this from the HSJ chat:

I haven’t tried an NHS boss on Twitter search for English primary care, given the transition between PCTs and CCGs, but Mike Burrows – chief executive of the largest PCT cluster, NHS Greater Manchester – is on, as is Paul Roberts of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University health board. Among the mental health providers in England, there are at least four tweeting chief executives: Lisa Rodrigues of Sussex Partnership foundation trust – who wrote for HSJ on why bosses should tweet (free to view) – Matthew Patrick of Tavistock and Portman foundation trust, Rachel Newson of Coventry and Warwickshire partnership trust and Shaun Clee of 2together mental health foundation trust – although the following tweet was picked up by local and national media, who accused him of tactlessness given his staff could face pay reviews. (This may represent a danger of bosses tweeting.)

Other senior NHS tweeters include Richard Crompton, who has just taken over as chairman of Plymouth Hospitals, Stephen Dunn, director of the NHS Trust Development Authority, former Birmingham PCT head Sophia Christie and Prof Steve Field, chair of the NHS Future Forum. Jim Easton, national director for transformation for the NHS Commissioning Board, is on but no sign of Sir David Nicholson as yet. I have put together a list of senior NHS people on Twitter here – suggestions for additions are welcome. Thanks to @DrSuparnaDas, who was kind enough to suggest some of the tweeting bosses listed.

Update: many thanks to David Foord who has passed on his own list of tweeting CEOs. I have added some to my list, including acute trust heads Aidan Kehoe (Blackpool Teaching Hospitals), Caroline Shaw (The Christie), Paula Vasco-Knight (South Devon Health Care… previously known as @TiggerPaula, but she’s abandoned that account) and Paul Mears (Yeovil District Hospital). And there’s also two more bosses of trusts with mental health responsibilities: Jackie Daniel (Manchester Mental Health and Social Care) and Rob Webster (Leeds Community Healthcare). And finally, a CCG head – Dr Shane Gordon of NE Essex.

London 2012: NHS confirmed as national religion (featuring tweeted pictures of NHS nurses dressed as nurses for opening ceremony)
CI Colin Paine, the tweeting policeman of West Oxfordshire (see below for a recent example of CI Paine’s work)

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