Hello my name is… Mark Anderson

October 18, 2022

This month, we introduce Dr Mark Anderson who is stepping into the chief medical officer role, following Dr David Carruthers stepping down in August.

Mark joined the Trust in 2006, coming on board as a consultant gastroenterologist. He became endoscopy lead in 2011, and in 2013 stepped up as clinical director of scheduled care. This role came with significant responsibility, involving oversight of around seven medical specialties; Mark continued in this role for four years. In 2019, he became the deputy medical director and the responsible officer for doctor’s appraisal, revalidation and medical professional standards. He continued in these roles until September 2022, when he became the chief medical officer.

We caught up with Mark to find out his aims within the role and find out how he’s adapting to the change from clinical to leadership responsibilities.

Mark stated his first priority is to support the fundamentals of care programme, “which is a significant part of our approach to quality.” Launched in September, fundamentals of care aims to ensure all patients receive certain fundamentals, such as appropriate nutrition, hydration, rest and dignity but also harm free care and clear patient centred communication: these fundamentals are the responsibility of the whole multi-disciplinary healthcare team.

Discussing healthcare values, Mark stated: “I’m interested in human factors and learning, and I believe in a no-blame culture. Similarly, in my role I am keen to support maternity as safety champion. I also think it’s crucial to emphasise and advocate for the principles of ‘freedom to speak up’.” These principles are relevant to his focus on safety and governance.

In the longer term, Mark referenced the ongoing construction of Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. He noted “I haven’t visited for four years, so I imagine it will be quite different now! I’m keen to visit again to see how the construction has come on.

“The hospital will have a massive impact on both staff and patients. The impact won’t just apply to the acute setting, but will also benefit our ambitions in integrated care: I think the new setting will provide us with opportunities to better link up acute care with primary and community care.”

We also asked Mark about his own goals, and how he’s adapted to his new responsibilities. Mark stated it’s been “a big culture change from carrying out primarily clinical work to primarily leadership. I’m excited about this, but aware there will be a lot to learn. I’m in a new environment and it’s a new way of working. I can still achieve the things I want to work on, but in a new way.

“I’ve immersed myself in the role to meet the new requirements and climb that steep learning curve. But it is a great team to be joining and to build on our successes in research and in medical education. I must pay tribute to my predecessor, David Carruthers.”

Mark is keen to retain his links with the clinical setting; “I want to maintain my clinical grounding and utilise the skills I’ve developed from my background in this new role. It’s really important to me that I don’t lose connection with the clinical environment and continue to be aware of what’s happening on the ground.

“I’m going to keep doing some endoscopy, whilst also getting out to clinical areas. Throughout my career, I’ve made it my priority to be approachable. It’s important to me that people are aware of this: if you want to talk, you can reach out and I’d be really glad to speak with you.”