In our latest #OurEntrepreneurs profile we meet cohort 7 Clinical Entrepreneur Linda Miler, GP, medical educator, coach, facilitator and researcher in the Medical Humanities.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I have served as an NHS doctor for 32 years and as an inner-city portfolio GP for 28 years. I teach at 3 Medical schools and am a senior GP appraiser. Having also coached doctors and dentists since 2008, I am passionate about their success and wellbeing.
Name: Linda Miller
Occupation: GP, medical educator, coach, facilitator and researcher in the Medical Humanities.
Location: NHS England, NHS London and Birkbeck, University of London.
I have always been creative and interested in the arts and as a National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP) champion, I recognise the value of the arts and humanities for health and wellbeing, not just for patients, but for healthcare staff too. I am an RCGP Central and Northwest London representative for the Arts in Health special interest group (SIG) and the Late Career and Retired Members (LCARM) representative.
I completed a Masters in Medical Humanities in 2015 and am currently doing practice-led Medical Humanities doctoral research at Birkbeck, which relates to creativity, the arts and the wellbeing of doctors.
I won the Birkbeck Pioneer 2 Entrepreneurship programme Social Impact Prize in 2021, The IPSE Wellbeing Award and The Gwynne Vaughan Medal at Birkbeck, in 2022 for my innovation.
Tell us about your innovation
In the USA 400 doctors a year end their lives (AMA), This is equivalent to a year class at medical school. The rates in the UK are probably similar but the data is not collected. Doctors suffer the 4 D’s, Depression, Divorce, Dependence on Drugs and Alcohol, and Death by suicide. While there are good services for those who have already developed burnout and depression, such as the Practitioner Health Programme (https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/) we are not doing enough in terms of prevention. This is important because staff attrition, absence due to ill health, and the negative impacts of presenteeism on care, have a huge human and economic cost.
Burnout, moral injury, and retention are significant factors affecting healthcare sustainability. Many are also reconsidering medicine or speciality choices, coping with life events, and transitions, returning to training, navigating a new health system as International Medical Graduates (IMG’s) or struggling with exams, sometimes with previously unrecognised neurodiversity and this can be very challenging.
My innovation is a series of workshops which combine the benefits of coaching with the positive impact of the arts and creativity for the wellbeing of doctors and dentists. I am fortunate to collaborate with some amazing creatives including a body psychotherapist, a jazz singer, comedians, and gallery curators to provide these workshops.
Interventions such as mine, aim to signify to staff that they are valued and appreciated, and reconnect them to their core values and motivations. The coaching interventions include encouraging ‘Appreciative Inquiry’, a transformational tool in creating psychologically safe work cultures. Combining ‘Improvisation, Intuition and Innovation’ is empowering for participants and feedback I have received confirms this. I deliver workshops nationally and internationally, to medical students, trainees, GPs, educators, educational supervisors, training programme directors, paediatricians, and multidisciplinary teams. I plan to expand my impact by sharing this approach more widely through the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme.
Why did you apply to join the programme, and what are you most looking forward to?
I heard about the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme (CEP) through my work coaching trainee doctors and dentists at the Professional Support Unit (PSU) in London. I applied because of the networking, educational and mentoring potential. I am looking forward to more opportunities to scale up my approach, including progressing my connection with the Royal College of Radiologists, whom I successfully pitched to at their “Dragon’s Den” event which was signposted by the CEP. I often recommend the programme to my coaching client’s whatever stage they are at in their careers.
I have recently found a mentor through the programme, and I know that they will help me remain focussed on my innovation, despite work commitments, and find new avenues for scaling up, whilst holding me accountable for progress.
What are your ambitions for the next year?
This year I hope to scale up my innovation and deliver more workshops to NHS trusts, ICBs, colleges and universities, extending my reach further.
Why do you think innovation is important in healthcare?
Innovations improve care, safety, and efficiency but they also support the wellbeing of staff and leaders because they are an outlet for everyday creativity.
How can we find out more?
Please visit https://lindamiller.co.uk/ for more information.