Senior leader reflections: Rifat Rashid

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

I am a born and bred in Glasgow, where I completed my schooling before beginning my pre-clinical undergraduate training at the University of St. Andrews, and then my clinical undergraduate training, which I completed at the University of Manchester.

I remember from very early on in my childhood I always wanted to be a doctor. However my careers teacher had less confidence in my ability and asked me to consider more realistic career options! So, I’ve definitely made younger Rifat proud by making it through medical school and completing my medical training to become a consultant despite the odds.

The very first thing I did when I got my consultant role at the then Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) was set up a new consultant course. I felt that there was a gap in the organisation in terms of support and mentorship for new consultants. So, I decided to take a proposal to the Medical Director, supported by one of my senior colleagues. The course was very well received and seemed to have a positive impact.

Soon after I started, I became the Trust lead for seven-day services, and before long I became the Clinical Service Lead for Respiratory Medicine. Later I moved into the role of Deputy Divisional Director for Division 3, and I stayed in this role once the two trusts (HEFT and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB)) merged.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was appointed to the role of Senior Responsible Clinician for Heartlands Hospital, which meant I was responsible for the integrity of the site, including ensuring adequate provision for all COVID-19 positive, and COVID-19 negative patients. This was a particularly challenging role as it involved making massive changes to clinical pathways to ensure our patients were safe and well cared for, at pace and under extreme pressure.

In February this year I started my new role as Deputy Chief Medical Officer. My remit is to look at how we can improve inpatient services. It is more of a strategic role, and involves establishing General Medicine within the Trust. However, I do still work clinically as a Respiratory Medicine Consultant. It can be difficult to manage the clinical role with management and leadership responsibilities, but I’ve had to learn how to manage my time and the art of prioritisation.

What gets me out of bed every morning is knowing that no two days are the same. Some people like routine, but I like not knowing what’s going to happen each day and the opportunities that brings! My role as Deputy Chief Medical Officer keeps me really interested; I get to work with people who are really inspiring and I can help join the dots to make things happen.

Being able to influence strategy is really important to me. When you start out as a doctor or a consultant, you can influence the patients that you see. But, as your career progresses, your sphere of influence grows wider. In this job, I can influence change at a population level and that is a really important aspect of the job for me.

You don’t have to have figured out the answer, you just have to be willing to give things a shot and be willing to make things better.?

I get to try and think ahead and create a better future; and have a population view on how we do that, so that we service the needs of all our patients. ?I have to think about what the health needs of Birmingham and Solihull are now, and what are they going to be in five or 10 years time. This then allows us to look at how we can shape the organisation so we can meet the demands of the future. That’s really exciting because there are so many opportunities and ideas to explore!

Personally, I can only achieve this if I am connected to what’s happening on the ‘shop floor’ – so the work our clinical teams are doing. I do that by remaining clinical, doing all my on-calls and the ward work I do. I might do less of it now, but I still do it, so I can stay connected to the ground reality.

For me to do the things I want to do, in terms of making healthcare better for the population of Birmingham – which is a pretty bold statement – I recognise that it also needs a lot of collaboration and connection with a lot of different teams. There are opportunities to work with different colleagues, and external partners as well as internal partners.

Being able to influence strategy is really important to me.

I understand that you can’t make big changes individually. We have a wealth of opportunity and talent in the Trust. So, for me, it’s connecting and bringing all those expertise and talents together, so we are all focussed on the same thing, to deliver those really big, bold statements.

And it is hard – UHB is one of the largest trusts in the country, and we serve the population of the second biggest city in the country… I’m not professing to have sorted the problems – but I am working with people who can help improve things for our patients. You can never do these things as an individual; these are multi-layered, multi-factorial problems. Therefore they need multiple different types of approaches and to try different things. There is not one single solution to a complicated problem – but it’s about working through those bits that you can influence and to bring about small changes initially and eventually those bigger changes.

If any one is considering getting into senior leadership, I would say absolutely go for it. If there’s an opportunity, or you have an idea, or there’s something you think you can positively influence, seek out the people who will be able to help you do that. You don’t have to have figured out the answer, you just have to be willing to give things a shot and be willing to make things better.?