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Sharing thoughts and eureka moments
Reflecting on our work, what we’re learning and the latest about the health challenges we focus on.
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Latest health stats remind us it is all about life lived well
16 August, 2017
Our Programme Director Mike Wright discusses the role we’ll play in helping to tackle the growing issue of multiple long-term conditions.
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What is behind our local childhood obesity corridor
03 August, 2017
Our Head of Evaluation Rob Parker shares patterns we've seen on what sits behind our high local child obesity rates.
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The importance of community engagement in tackling childhood obesity
26 July, 2017
Phil Veasey, Public Health, Community Engagement, and Sports Development Consultant explores the behavioural changes needed to involve residents in the issue of childhood obesity.
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Tackling childhood obesity in an urban, diverse and deprived setting
19 July, 2017
Sarah Hickey, Childhood Obesity Programme Director explains our ambition to make a step-change impact on local obesity, working with anyone who can help us achieve this goal.
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Behavioural science can help us fight childhood obesity
17 July, 2017
For a long time obesity was categorised as a problem of information and willpower. However, what food people eat, and how much of it, is profoundly influenced by simple cues in their surroundings.
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Growing the evidence base on place-based health
16 June, 2017
Our Chief Executive Kieron Boyle discusses the value of being place-based and the impact it has on the complex health issues of our time.
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Solving poverty
30 May, 2017
Dr Emma Stone, Director of Policy and Research at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, writes for us on the impact of poverty on people's health, reflecting on our latest report.
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People, place and partnerships in health
12 May, 2017
Health issues today are as complex as they have ever been. They relate not only to people’s physical and mental health, but also to what people perceive a healthy life to be in the context in which they live. This suggests to us two important points: that people and place matter.
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Three lessons from transforming mental health in Lambeth
12 May, 2017
In Lambeth we realised a few years ago that despite the big efforts and money we were putting into mental healthcare – particularly acute care – we weren’t getting great health outcomes.
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Changing the game for people with long-term conditions
20 April, 2017
“I wait weeks to get a double appointment. I write down all the things I need to say but I don’t get time. I am told I am only allowed to mention two symptoms.” Tina is in her late 50s.
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A new focus for the Charity
07 March, 2017
Over the past nine months, we've been developing a new strategy at Guy's and St Thomas’ Charity. It's an ambitious plan and one that could make a real difference - not only in South London, but well beyond.
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Seven things we did in 2016 that we’re rather proud of
13 December, 2016
At Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity we’re hugely fortunate to get to do what we do. So, as December is the internationally recognised month of lists, we share with you seven things we’re rather proud about this year. Continue reading...
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Using every bit of support to beat cancer
07 November, 2016
As I type this, I realise this month sees not one but three awareness campaigns for types of cancer – lung, mouth and pancreatic.
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Lessons from the frontline of health innovation
12 September, 2016
This is the second instalment in my series of blog posts where I share some of the key lessons we’re learning from our work supporting new ideas in health.
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Winning hearts and minds through communications
09 September, 2016
In south London there are 56% more new cases of schizophrenia and other psychoses diagnosed each year when compared with the average in England. Continue reading...
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How communications helped with the success of my health innovation
09 September, 2016
I was recently asked to speak at the Charity's communicating in health seminar, sharing my experiences of how communications can help a project to reach its innovation goals. Continue reading...
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Can creating health rather than treating illness ever be the new normal?
16 August, 2016
This was the question ringing in my ears as I returned from the 2016 meeting of The Creating Health Collaborative. Continue reading...
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Creating the foundations for a digital revolution in health
12 August, 2016
For the past few years we, like many others, have been particularly interested in the opportunities that digital technologies can create in health. Continue reading...
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How our funding is improving Evelina London
09 August, 2016
As the charity for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – and with that, Evelina London Children’s Hospital – supporting the very best care for children and their families is a key focus of ours. Continue reading...
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How can we be the very best catalyst for health innovation?
10 June, 2016
There’s an interesting challenge in running a health charity that has been around for hundreds of years, and plans to be around for a few hundred more. Continue reading...
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What to expect when co-producing new health services with users
10 June, 2016
One in three young offenders have an unmet mental health need at the time of offence. They - as well as many people around them - are paying a heavy price for inadequate and inaccessible support. Continue reading...
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Involving in heath innovation – tips from the frontline
09 June, 2016
Jude Partridge, geriatrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, shares some of the lessons learned about involving others in designing and delivering health innovation. Continue reading...
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Online health communities are changing healthcare – yet we know little about them
02 June, 2016
Online health communities are having a big impact on healthcare - yet they are largely overlooked by researchers and the wider healthcare community. Continue reading...
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Challenging the norm in children’s health
10 May, 2016
We just marked the close of the Knee High Design Challenge, which has improved the health of 0-5 year olds in Lambeth and Southwark over the past three years.
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CEO blog: My first few weeks at the Charity
29 April, 2016
Three weeks into the job and the team have let me loose on a blog (which is brave of them, but don’t tell them that!). Continue reading...
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What happened when an artist entered a centre for sleep disorders
27 April, 2016
The human brain. Three pounds or so of fatty tissue, boxed inside the inky darkness of the skull. It needs sleep. Continue reading...
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My parting wish for local health and care
31 March, 2016
So after 42 years of more or less constant full time work, with the last two decades in Chief Executive roles, it’s time to leave Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and move into the next phase in my life. Continue reading...
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Going beyond healthcare to improve local health
07 March, 2016
Lambeth and Southwark have a very diverse and mobile population, where extremes of deprivation and wealth coexist. This is despite the presence of high performing health and social care institutions in the area. Last month we hosted a seminar to explore how to improve the health by looking beyond the traditional prism of healthcare. Continue reading...
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Lessons from the frontline of health innovation
01 March, 2016
Investing in innovation is an exciting but risky business. As an organisation that does just that day in and day out, we place significant value on learning about how and why those new ideas we support are working - or not. Continue reading...
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Transforming lives through imaging
08 February, 2016
The development of new technology, diagnostic innovation and new treatments will change the outcomes and experience for patients in ways that we can only start to imagine. Continue reading...
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Knocking on the door to the future of health
18 December, 2015
We have hosted the first UK-based inspired by a global collective looking at health beyond the lens of healthcare. Everyone saw a huge opportunity to improve lives, but important challenges began to emerge. Continue reading...
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The ideas we backed this year will make health better
07 December, 2015
This year brought us much cause for celebration as we partnered with many people with inspiration, ideas and ambition, working at the heart of health and social care here in Lambeth and Southwark. Continue reading...
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Evaluating innovation: how can we get it right?
05 November, 2015
Evaluation isn’t easy. I know because, in my job as Head of Evaluation at the Charity, I deal with the complexities of it every day. Continue reading...
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A parting note as Chair - bold leadership is what it takes
04 November, 2015
Last night I attended an event to mark my departure as Chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and it forced me to reflect on the six years I have spent in that role. As I step down, I throw down a challenge to those responsible for driving change. Continue reading...
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Ten years of partnership
26 October, 2015
Evelina London is ten. A proud decade of delivering life-changing care for children, young people and their families, a success that is down to people: our extraordinary staff, the children and families, our donors and those who support us. Continue reading...
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The catharsis of shared words
21 August, 2015
We're supporting The Reader Organisation to bring about a reading revolution in Lambeth and Southwark, helping to reduce isolation and improve wellbeing. Over 1,300 people have attended at least one reading session - I was one of them recently. Continue reading...
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Exploring the potential for a new innovation fund
05 August, 2015
We’ve partnered with healthcare communication gurus medDigital to explore what health innovators and entrepreneurs need today to ensure that their bright sparks become realities that benefit many. Continue reading...
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Joining the dots in mental health support in Lambeth
22 June, 2015
As a charity that works with people at the margins of society, at Thames Reach we have known for years the challenges involved in, and the sheer importance of looking after, the complete health of the most vulnerable in our communities Continue reading...
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The healing power of dance in mental health
02 June, 2015
As a psychiatrist with an enduring passion for movement and dance, I was thrilled to witness first-hand the positive impact of The Alchemy Project, an Continue reading...
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A few lessons from Israel's health tech start-up culture
13 May, 2015
When looking for answers to London’s healthcare issues, few of us would think of turning to the Middle East. However, with its challenge-driven culture, high tolerance of failure and little regard for hierarchy, places like Continue reading...