In this special Healthcare Voices episode of the Improving Healthcare Podcast, Darren Jones sits down with Develop Consulting’s new Commercial Account Director, Sue Blackman, to explore the experiences that have shaped her 30-year NHS career and her passion for practical healthcare improvement.
From national policy and commissioning to primary care transformation, Sue shares why sustainable change starts with people, not PowerPoint, and explains how organisations can build lasting improvement capability by empowering frontline teams and learning from proven approaches beyond healthcare.
Transformation Starts with People: “Transformation is fundamentally about people.” Sue explains that lasting improvement isn’t driven by project plans, technology or governance alone, but by creating the right culture where frontline staff have the space, support and confidence to lead change.
From Strategy to Practical Delivery: Drawing on almost 30 years across the NHS, Sue discusses the importance of translating national priorities into meaningful local action. Real improvement comes from understanding frontline challenges and working alongside organisations to solve them, rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions.
Consultancy That Builds Capability: Sue believes the NHS needs partners who deliver practical change, not reports that sit on shelves. The goal should be to leave organisations better equipped to continue improving long after the consultancy support has ended.
Learning Beyond Healthcare: Sue highlights the opportunity for the NHS to adopt proven improvement approaches from industries such as manufacturing. Her visit to Toyota reinforced that continuous improvement is most effective when it’s embedded into everyday work and everyone is empowered to contribute ideas.
A Vision for Sustainable Improvement: Looking ahead, Sue hopes to broaden Develop Consulting’s impact across more areas of healthcare while remaining focused on practical, collaborative improvement that strengthens organisations, supports staff and ultimately improves patient care.
Practice Managers, GP Partners, PCN Clinical Directors, ICB leaders, NHS transformation and improvement teams, primary care commissioners, healthcare improvement specialists, and anyone leading service redesign, continuous improvement or neighbourhood health implementation across the NHS.