Senior leader reflections: Ian Johnson

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust runs Good Hope, Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals, the Birmingham Chest Clinic, and Solihull community services.

Originally when I was thinking about careers, I wanted to be a surgeon, but family circumstances meant I needed to leave school early, and I joined the Royal Marines, aged 16.

After my stint in the Marines, I joined the police service and became a police detective within the Criminal Investigation Department, as well as in drugs squads and the National Crime Squad. I later specialised in risk management within the Northwest Counter Terrorism Unit. Before retiring from the police force, I began taking qualifications in health and safety management, which led to me becoming a health and safety officer at the National Crime Agency and then head of health and safety at Liverpool Prison.

Before coming to UHB, my first NHS role was as Head of Health and Safety at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London. Moving to the NHS, I found that change takes place over a longer time span, but once momentum starts, it really gets going.

I joined UHB in August 2023, at a time when the Trust was evolving significantly and at a fast pace. As we settle into our new operating model, I am looking forward to introducing a specific health and safety management system to serve each site’s individual risk profile, to best serve our colleagues, patients, and visitors.???

My favourite part of working in health and safety is helping people to be safer and happier at work. I especially enjoy the collaborative approach to finding solutions, where safer working alternatives evolve through staff contribution. Their buy-in ensures safer practices are readily adopted and improve the overall safety culture.?????

I’ve found that working in public service means connecting with all sorts of people – the public, as well as colleagues; this makes the job so varied, as well as rewarding. Once, whilst working in the police service, I arranged for a very ill boy to spend a day with the police firearms team, and he had so much fun! I don’t know if this was kind, or just part of being a policeman. But being kind doesn’t always mean big gestures. For me, it’s the thought behind the gesture which is important.

If I was to offer anyone who is looking to move in to a leadership role some advice, it would be to empathise with people. Try to walk in another’s shoes and take this into account before making decisions.

On a practical level, there are some great management qualifications out there to support your learning such as the Chartered Institute of Management, or internal leadership programme at UHB.?

But it’s not just about academic knowledge. With a leadership role comes responsibility and the type of role model you want to become, as well as the need for accountability by all of us. Whether it relates to health and safety, safeguarding, or just maintaining high standards, I truly believe that we have a responsibility not to look away.

If you’re inspired by Ian and want to join #teamUHB, visit our Jobs website below to see all our current opportunities: