Dr Ian Gargan began his role as PHIN’s Chief Executive this month. With a wealth of experience as a medical doctor and qualified psychologist, and having worked in the public and private healthcare sectors, he has a very clear vision of what he expects the organisation and wider sector to achieve over the coming months and years, as he explains:
“I have two main visions for PHIN. The overriding one is, of course, for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) order to be fulfilled and for patients to see the benefit of that. Although progress is being made, there is still plenty to be done on that account. The secondary aim is to work with industry partners to improve patient care. I believe that by collecting the right data, and making it available in an understandable format to providers and patients when they are making healthcare-related decisions, that we will help in that area too,” he said.
Active listening
Ian sees his role as a facilitator, working with the PHIN Board, Executive and staff along with various health industry stakeholders involved in achieving those goals. He already has a packed diary of meetings and conferences and says that he is going into each in ‘active listening’ mode to hear about the support hospitals, consultants, insurers and patient groups need to fulfil their requirements under the CMA order, so that PHIN can help.
The deadline to fulfil the CMA order means urgent progress is needed, and Ian believes the new sector-wide roadmap and strategy launched at the end of July is the catalyst to unleash the required energy as all parties work together to ensure widespread compliance.
Ian is also keen to recognise the hard work already being done by the PHIN team. He admits to being a bit of a data nerd, and says that genealogy, epidemiology and healthcare data fields have always been central in his medical or psychology work.
“At PHIN we have very cool and innovative technology that we're using to help us do our job in a secure and accurate way. Our informatics are impressive too and help us to learn from patients and their needs. Although there are other mechanisms which report on healthcare performance, PHIN is the only one that operates under a government mandate, collecting data in an objective fashion, that doesn't have commercial interest. That means we can be trusted.”
Public private partnerships
Although PHIN has private healthcare in its name, Ian explains that it has a wider involvement in the sector than some might expect. PHIN collects NHS data too and colleagues liaise regularly with NHS and public health colleagues to share knowledge and learnings to help the whole health care system, through projects such as Acute Data Alignment Programme (ADAPt).
“We must all work together across the healthcare sector to improve patient outcomes. The CMA order is designed to promote competition, but we don’t think it is there just for competition’s sake. It's there because competition breeds success. Success breeds better health care for patients, something that is in everyone’s interest.”
Fit for purpose
Away from work, Ian is a passionate sports fan, and admits anything with an element of competition interests him. He is the honorary chief medical officer to Lansdowne Football Club, a rugby union club based in Dublin, and has worked with Leinster Rugby and Irish Rugby as well.
He loves to run, swim, and has competed in triathlons. He believes sport plays an important role in mental health, which is another of his passions.
His other interests include film, food, socializing, and just talking to and really engaging with people.
Ian is married with two teenage children.
