Blackwood’s Jessica Rowland sat down with Jonathan Gardner, CEO Bluebird Care UK & Ireland, to discuss the future of consumer healthcare in the UK, the impact of AI and what makes a great leader in the sector. Watch the interview in full here or scroll down for the full transcript
Transcript
Hi Jessica, good to be with you today. I’m Jonathan Gardner, CEO Bluebird Care for the UK & Ireland.
What drew you to the healthcare sector?
Originally, I wanted to be a doctor - that sort of runs in the family a little. But sixteen to earn some money I went to work at Boots on Saturdays as a weekend part-time job and ended up working on a healthcare counter. The manager of the store at the time asked me what I wanted to do with my career and I said maybe become a doctor but that I also like business, and he said “what could be better than working for Boots where you get to help people feel better every day, and you also get to run a shop?” It just resonated with me, and I ended up spending thirty years with the Boots brand after that moment.
What is the most rewarding thing about working in healthcare?
I’ve spent my whole career in the healthcare sector, and I come back to those early days; my purpose is helping people to feel better be that through wellness, healthcare or even leading teams. There’s a real manifestation of the difference you make in healthcare. As a pharmacist in the early days when I started at Boots, you would see people through treatments for cancer or transplants and you would see them almost everyday as a point of contact as a healthcare professional and I used to love that. You can really make a difference to peoples’ lives.
What are the key challenges?
In any sector there are challenges and opportunities. When I worked for Boots, it had a real ethos of meeting the unmet needs in healthcare and in particular that meant, as a brand, partnering with the NHS and government to help people live better lives. There are all sorts of examples of things that we did during that time, be it launching flu vaccinations in pharmacy or creating an optical business. I was fortunate enough to be involved in starting an audiology business under the Boots brand to really help in those areas where government couldn’t provide through the NHS the services that people really needed to lead better lives. That challenge still continues – government policy can change daily at times so it’s important to stay close to what policymakers and health secretaries want to do. The other area is, in recent times, Brexit and the departure of EU nationals from the UK was significant. This was then closely followed by covid, and healthcare was turned on its head overnight in terms of access to services. At the current time, it’s never been harder to recruit healthcare professionals and healthcare workers. That’s the key challenge, both for the NHS and for private businesses like us.
What makes a good leader in the sector?
I’ve worked with some great leaders during my time who come from many different backgrounds. I would say all of them tend to have a core value in care, be that patient care or customer care. I’ve certainly found from my own experience that having a background in healthcare from a young age has really helped me understand all the different service sectors and how people in the roles who really deliver the care feel. I’ve found that invaluable. It doesn’t mean you have to have it though; I’ve worked with some great leaders who have joined a business and been hugely visible and hugely curious and have gone and spoken to carers or healthcare assistants, pharmacists, or dentists to understand what matters to them. I think it’s that desire to understand and listen and then act that makes for great leadership in the sector.
What are the benefits of working with private equity?
I’ve worked within private equity owned businesses now for about 15 years. Coming from a big brand like Boots which is a well-known brand in the UK and listed on the stock market, it was quite a shock when it was bought by KKR. I’ve found that working within the private equity sector brings you real clarity on what’s expected, a longer-term timescale and how much cash there is to invest to grow. I’ve found that all private equity houses have answers to those questions very clearly when they acquire in or enter the healthcare sector. I think I’ve also been very lucky to work with private equity houses that do genuinely care about healthcare, patients, and customer outcomes. That really matters – it’s not profit at any cost; I would say healthcare is more about purpose beyond profit. The private equity houses I’ve worked with have always got heavily involved and been hugely supportive.
What do the next few years look like?
Both for the healthcare sector and for Bluebird Care, there are some really clear market dynamics at play. Certainly, within the domiciliary care sector, it’s a real unique market where there is far more demand for our services than there is supply. This is playing through in a number of healthcare sectors because government don’t have the funding to provide all the health and social care needs for people in the UK so private providers naturally are stepping in to offer those service in a self-pay model. We all require carers and the lack of care professionals in the UK through covid and Brexit has created this incredible market dynamic that is only going to grow in the next few years. People are living longer and that’s a fact – I was reading this morning that there will be 50% more 80+ year olds in 20 years’ time. People are living longer, healthier lives and we know from our sector that no one wants to go into a care home or a hospital. So, if we can provide high quality care in people’s own homes with high quality carers, we will win in that market dynamic. It’s a very interesting change from being in retail where I used to be where everyone is after the same customer and the same pound. The market dynamics in healthcare are fundamentally being driven by the scarcity of supply of healthcare professionals.
How might AI impact the industry?
I think AI will work in two ways in the homecare sector. We’re already using AI to help us recruit great people into our organisation. Post covid and post Brexit, that’s changed – we’re now recruiting from overseas and that’s where we spend almost 90% of our time, recruiting people overseas through visa sponsorship programmes as there just aren’t enough care workers here in the UK - we’re really just stealing from each other. So, you have to bring in new people. The way that AI can help you target those people and stay in touch with those people is just incredible. We’re already seeing the fruits of that investment.
The other is how AI will help people live better lives through connected healthcare. Many people now wear an Apple watch or device which can measure their healthcare needs or diagnostics almost. But also, we see a world where your Alexa can be your part time carer and we’re already trailing this in our US business whereby Alexa will ask someone with healthcare needs at home if they’ve taken their medicines today, how they’re feeling and log their blood pressure. And if they have a physical care need, we can send a carer. So that model is currently in pilot phase out of the US. I have no doubt that will enter the UK market very soon alongside motion sensors in people’s houses so loved ones can see if their mum has got up today, taken her medication and had breakfast. That’s all going to be driven through AI and technology and it’s hugely exciting.
Technology led care actually could solve some significant problems that we have in the UK with resource.
What has been your biggest lesson of your career so far, and what advice would you give to your younger self?
That’s a big question. I’d say from my own point of view that visible leadership matters. Leadership is about leading teams and getting the best out of others and being able to understand in organisations, where does value get created? Which is normally at the lowest common denominator e.g., a care worker looking after a patient or a customer. Then understanding what matters to them. To do that you have to be visible in my experience – you just learn so much more quickly. I’ve seen great leaders do that with me and it’s something I’ve held on to throughout my whole career. Go and find out what’s really happening at the coal face. Make time to do that because it’s really hard. Once you reach a senior management or director role, it’s really easy to not go and see where the value is created in your business. But I’ve always found that customers will tell if you’re getting it right or not, and so will your colleagues. So, I go spend time with them and it’s something I really enjoy doing. Every month I go out with carers and meet customer and patients in their homes and see what sort of service we’re providing to them.
The only other piece of advice I might’ve given myself is listen to the feedback you’re given by people you respect and trust. That doesn’t have to be your boss, it could be your friends. My leadership style and career success had been driven by other people who have nudged and guided me. Those people who I felt were always committed to my success, I’ve always listened to, and their advice has been invaluable. So, find some great people to surround yourself with and listen to it.
What is the best piece of career advice you have received?
The first I learnt at Boots is seek first to understand before being understood; that’s a Stephen Covey habit. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Stephen when I was first in a managerial role at Boots and it’s so important. I still use it today. We all jump to conclusions but actually listening and understanding someone else’s point of view before giving your opinion or answer matters.
I worked with a great leader Simon Roberts while I was at Boots, now CEO Sainsburys. He taught me to respond, don’t react. I think it links to seeking first to understand. He was absolutely brilliant in times of crisis or disruption. If there was a problem, he was able to pause, listen, think, reflect and then act. It didn’t take him long. Responding is a much more conscious leadership style than reacting. I use that all the time. I’ve worked in franchise businesses for twelve years and I find they’re very emotional. That piece of advice I hold onto and use every single day and impart to as many people possible.
What is your career highlight?
I once was honoured and fortunate to be Store Leader of the Year at Boots. We had 2.5k stores and it was announced at a huge conference, completely unexpected. It was a time where I was leading airport format stores and we’d been through all sorts of disruption with 9/11 and the liquids ban on planes which changed our business model. I worked with a great team who nominated me, and I was fortunate to win it. It was a real moment of reflection for me as I felt I was just doing my job but how other people were seeing my leadership in that time was critical to them.
What podcasts/books have influenced your career?
My favourite book is Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, the epitome of belief and leadership in such difficult circumstances. That book I really love and still pick up at particular times. I love to understand what’s the latest in leadership and what CEOs are thinking. There are a couple of CEO groups I’m part of; being a CEO can be quite lonely so talking to other CEOs, particularly in private equity, is invaluable.
I have a leadership coach I work with really closely called Ian Lock. He’s written two books – one is called Being Extraordinary and one is called 4i Leadership. They’re both leadership programmes that he’s run with four or five of my teams that help create high performing teams really quickly. I find him fascinating. He asks me all these questions I don’t really want to answer, so he’s a really good friend but also describes himself as an uncomfortable companion. He’s at the forefront of leadership in big organisations, which always fascinates me.
My favourite app is headspace. Ten minutes of headspace every day I think keeps me sane. I was recommended that by someone I worked with, Andy Chandler, who’s now a leadership consultant. I find that probably my happiest ten minutes of the day. It helps me think and get back to what really matters.
