Miscellaneous
An interview with Dr Laura Neislon, Hope Citadel CIC.As a medical student, just over 10 years ago, Laura saw ‘health being done badly’ and having a big impact on her friends and neighbours. Laura decided with a team of colleagues to set up her own GP service which was the founding of Hope Citadel. She is now responsible for running 9 GP surgeries across greater Manchester.Show NotesI was so excited about talking to Laura as I personally find her inspirational. Her dedication to the people in her community and team is heart-warming. Whenever I see Laura I leave with a feeling of belief that change can happen. Laura starts off our conversation by telling us what is so special about Hope Citadel and how it compares to normal general practice (3m30s). She shares her experiences working in one of the most deprived areas of the country (8m15m) and how important, particularly working in areas like hers, to be fantastic generalist (10m30s).We discuss co-planning, patient centred care and bargaining (12mins) and how important primary care is in all of this. We also hear about focused care at Hope Citadel (14m45s) and how they are using their incredible focused care workers to help with some of their more complex patients.‘If you go to outpatients are you going to see an SHO and is that worth half a day off work on a zero hour contract?’ (13mins)Laura is rightly proud of her team and what they have created. She shares with me her insights into how she chooses her team at Hope Citadel (18m40s) and where this all sits in the bigger picture of Manchester and beyond (20m40m). We touch on the complexity of politics and the role of doctors and health professionals in speaking out about what we see (23mins). Laura tells us how she feels her voice has developed more validity over time (24m20s). Her confidence has increased with experience and she sees a huge value in working with one community over a long period of time to really understand the context and place.Laura’s career so far has been anything but conventional. We discuss her courage of stepping off her medical career journey and choosing to do something to make a difference (26m40s). She says she wishes doctors were braver, but she admits that she is not sure if she knew then what she knows now whether she would have created Hope Citadel (30m30s). She describes her naivety as being really freeing and shares some of her lessons she has learnt along the way (32mins).We discuss Laura’s faith (37mins), her family and friends (40m30s), and how these all play a part in making Laura who she is. Laura shares her insights on values, imagination and vision as part of all of this (38m20s). Despite all of this, Laura still finds time to have fun too (42mins). We discuss making time to relax, being bad at your hobbies and finding joy in the space you are working in.Intro about Laura (1m45s)Laura’s Best Book (50m45s)Growing pains by Dr Mike ShooterGenie question (48m10s)Recommended reading- Harry Potter‘If you do the right thing clinical outcomes will follow’ - Laura Neilson See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.