Why the patient voice is the secret to re-energising the healthcare sector

The UK healthcare industry has seen substantial change over the past 20 years, with game-changing technologies and treatment advancements from cell and gene therapy to AI-driven diagnosis.

This progress will no doubt make a significant difference to the way healthcare is delivered in the future. However, as reinforced by Lord Darzi’s recent report into the NHS, there are fundamental underlying issues, several of which were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continue to have an ongoing impact on an overwhelmed system. Such obstacles can be attributed to a sparsity of funding, a patient voice that is not loud enough and staff disengagement.

While the findings of Lord Darzi’s report are unsurprising and many of us, as patients or carers, have experienced the challenges first-hand, there is no doubt that the work healthcare professionals (HCPs) and NHS staff do, day in and day out, is incredible – their hard work and dedication to their patients is unwavering. However, as noted by the new Secretary of State for Health, the UK healthcare system is broken and change is critical. We need to re-evaluate how the NHS operates and better understand how we can engage and support staff.

Yet, the hardships faced by the NHS and wider health sector, in terms of the need to energise and engage employees, aren’t necessarily unique and similar challenges can be identified within all sectors, including our own. The difference lies in the approach.

In industry, there is a concerted effort to cultivate a sense of shared purpose among employees, amplifying and emphasising the urgency of addressing patient needs. This focus is paramount for companies that develop life-changing medicines and vaccines, and it permeates throughout the organisation, reaching every employee. While this mission and focus on serving patients is a cornerstone of the NHS, sadly, the voices of patients seem to have been drowned out along the way.

The reality is, change must always start with listening – ensuring we hear our staff, our partners and the patients we seek to serve. But listening alone is not enough. We must turn what we are hearing into tangible action, or nothing changes. For example, at Amgen, as in many organisations, we run regular staff engagement surveys to understand how they think and feel, but we recognise that to have an impact, we must act on the outputs and co-create to find solutions. Everyone plays a part and we must move forward as a collective.

And what about listening to, and acting on, the needs of patients? When we talk about patients, considering the voices of carers, families and those who accompany patients throughout their individual journeys is essential. After all, they are the ones who know what changes are needed to enhance their journeys and improve their experience. Looking at the healthcare sector more widely, patients must be the North Star we always come back to.

As the NHS looks to re-evaluate employee engagement, the question needs to be: “Are we truly listening to patients and how do we put them at the centre of everything we do?”

However, while intent is good, there needs to be determination and commitment to get it right from the very top. One of the most fundamental aspects of my job as a leader is to facilitate an environment for people to be the best and most driven versions of themselves.  John Mackey, the former CEO of Whole Foods, is credited with saying: ‘If you are lucky enough to be someone’s employer, then you have a moral obligation to make sure people do look forward to coming to work in the morning.’ This is critical to us as we aim to ensure our employees understand and truly believe their work makes a difference.

Employee engagement is vital to our cause and inspiring our colleagues through our mission to better serve patients underpins everything that we do. We always consider: what’s the value of the work we do for our company? What’s the value of the work that we do for the clinicians, our stakeholders and partners? Across the pharmaceutical industry and within peer organisations, we’re united in our priorities to put patients at the centre of our work so we can address their needs through the development and delivery of innovative medicines and technologies.

As part of this process, from listening to tangible engagement, at Amgen, we recently hosted our third Mission Week – an annual celebration of our mission and an opportunity to stop, reflect and truly put the patient at the heart of the conversation. During this important week, every employee globally is actively encouraged to attend and dedicate the time to see first-hand the patients who benefit from the medicines we deliver and hear their individual journeys from diagnosis to treatment, with several sessions across the globe. It gives us the opportunity to discuss what it is we can do better or differently and why our work is so important.

Mission Week stands out as an example of how we achieve more when working together. The theme for this year’s Mission Week was ‘Together we make a difference’, which is an important reminder to all of us that the work of every individual impacts the patient experience. This is a theme shared by many across our sector and we are united by our common purpose: to reduce inequalities and enable patients to access medicines that could improve their lives.

‘If we want to retain and recruit the best people into the healthcare sector – for the NHS or industry – we need to think about how we approach our work’

Serving patients not only improves lives, it also supports the health of our workforce and the economy. In the weeks following Lord Darzi’s report, the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity published a report highlighting the link between good health and a prosperous and just country. Over three years of analysis, the report showed improved access to health can help labour supply, productivity, earnings, public finances and regional balance.

The Office of Budget Responsibility says there are 900,000 people who aren’t in work but should be, due to health reasons. There’s a role for industry here, to help close the circle.  By listening to patients, investing in preventative approaches, helping to improve pathways from diagnosis to treatment and making the access journey overall more efficient and effective, we have an opportunity to support patients’ return to work, improve their quality of life and bridge the gap between a strong economy and a strong health system.

Achieving this goal requires commitment, collaboration and engagement from the millions of people who work in healthcare, including those of us who work in life sciences. I would encourage the government to think about the choices we make, not only in the short term, but also in the mid and long term, to set ourselves up for success.

Investing in the future of healthcare means not only improving staff and patient engagement today but thinking about the staff and patients of tomorrow. The life sciences sector is currently the biggest investor in R&D in the UK, supporting north of 70,000 jobs nationwide. The sector will remain pivotal to navigating the health challenges and opportunities ahead, and attracting the right talent will be key to this. We need to free people up to do high value and purposeful work, leveraging new technologies to help with this and not being too onerous with regulation.

Most importantly, if we want to retain and recruit the best people into the healthcare sector – for the NHS or industry – we need to think about how we approach our work; to reframe its role and purpose and to show the difference it makes, which in turn will continue to motivate our employees.

Putting patients first should be the cornerstone of this approach.

I hope that the next generation of leaders within our organisation, and the next generation of leaders in life sciences and the NHS, see the huge opportunity there is to support and help patients to live their lives. Ultimately, this will make the difference to the productivity of our country, the health of the country and the future of our healthcare system.

References are available on request.

GBR-NP-1024-80004
Date of preparation: October 2024

Russell Abberley is General Manager of Amgen UK & Ireland and Acting President of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)