Dimitri Varsamis is a healthcare strategy director with 17 years of experience within the NHS. His expertise spans digital and clinical policy, service improvement, and international healthcare. Dimitri’s passion for healthcare innovation drives him to stay connected to the field and support fellow innovators on their journeys.
Name: Dimitri Varsamis
Occupation: Healthcare Strategy Director
“I knew healthcare would be my life’s calling from a young age and I began my journey by pursuing a BEng, MSc, and PhD in medical devices and biosensors at university in the UK. Realising that academic research wasn’t my passion, I moved into the NHS, starting my professional career at the national quality inspectorate, Healthcare Commission. This led to a 17-year long career within the NHS, where I gained invaluable experience before recently moving to the private sector, focusing on health tech business development.
The 4 years I dedicated to service redesign and transformation in London hospitals and local commissioners were particularly eye-opening for me. They provided me with a solid understanding of the frontline NHS, which I then applied as I progressed to a decade at NHS England. There, I led national clinical policy programmes across various areas, including maternity, stroke, and trauma, before focusing on national digital strategy for over five years. As the national Senior Policy Lead for Digital Primary Care and the Head of Digital Innovation Delivery, I was at the forefront of digital transformation.
My interest in international cooperation, sparked during my EU-funded PhD, which led me to spend 2 years at Healthcare UK within the HMG Department for Business and Trade. I also undertook a Churchill Fellowship, researching levers for digitising and integrating care in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Additionally, I had the privilege of representing the UK Government in EU policy making for diabetes.”
Why did you choose to become a mentor on the NHS CEP, are you enjoying the experience and how have you supported your mentee/s so far?
“I had previously mentored entrepreneurs via the Prince’s Trust and been a Social Action mentor for The Diana Award charity. In healthcare, I was a mentor for the NHS Graduate Digital, Data & Technology Scheme. Therefore, I am surprised it took me to 2023 to become one for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme!
Given my focus on digital innovation for many years now and thus engagement with innovators and entrepreneurs with something to contribute, I thought I should enhance what I do in the industry and help grow talent and ideas.
Supporting entrepreneurs keeps me grounded and connected to the full journey from ideation to deployment. From my NHS strategy and funder perspective, I often focus on viable, proven solutions that can benefit the NHS. However, the mentoring scheme allows me to see behind the curtain at the earlier stages of innovation.
This year, I’ve worked with a handful of mentees, and despite initial reservations about workload, it has been manageable and enjoyable. Engaging with people approaching innovation from a small-scale entrepreneurial angle is refreshing, and each project is so different that I end up learning a lot myself.
I strongly encourage other industry leaders to join the programme as mentors. Even if you work with just 1 entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to shape and contribute to the future of an NHS professional and, by extension, the healthcare system.”
What do you think makes a good mentor and can you see the impact that mentoring is having on your mentee?
“A good mentor leverages available resources and injects personal insight to focus on the mentee’s unique needs. They take an active interest while maintaining enough distance to provide a ‘helicopter view’ of the mentee’s day-to-day experiences. I act as a sounding board, listening to their progress and challenges since our last meeting, and offering advice and thoughts on how they might solve the issues they face. This could involve sharing my expertise in NHS contracting and payments or discussing broader topics like investment or what makes a good pitch.
With mentees I’ve worked with, I’ve aimed to help them understand the mindset of ‘NHS Managers’ and the rationale behind strategic and operational decisions, which may not always be clear to clinicians. By the end of the process, I hope to have made a difference in their understanding and development.”
What is the best piece of advice you have been given in your professional career?
“This is specific to the NHS (and the figurative eating of elephants): the NHS’ time-cycles are long, so focus on short and mid-term goals, to get to the long term.”
Dimitri Varsamis is one of over 300 professionals that volunteer there support to the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and support our next generation of innovators. If you are interested in supporting the programme visit our mentor pages
TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE THROUGH INNOVATION
