Only Human After All

Emma Crookes is the Respiratory and Sleep Physiological Science Service Manager at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. In this episode, she opens the door on healthcare science, one of the NHS's least understood professions. Emma explains how her team diagnoses and treats sleep apnoea, a condition affecting around 5% of the population that often goes unnoticed until a partner points out the snoring and bre...

Lauren Ward plans for the moments nobody wants to imagine. As Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Officer, she helps ensure the NHS is ready for everything from major incidents to power failures and extreme weather. But behind her role lies an extraordinary personal story of RAF service, two cancer diagnoses in a single year, losing the career she loved and finding a new purpose helping oth...

Cherry Lee has a shaved head, tattoos and piercings. She drives a lorry. She's the lead singer of an 80s/90s rock band called Thick Skinned. And she's one of the most thoughtful, strategic leaders you'll ever meet. Deputy General Manager for Surgery. Former jockey, former rugby player, former nurse, former ODP, former Surgical Care Practitioner. Someone who's learned that assumptions are usually w...

Maxwell Rousell is 20. He's a Digital and Social Inclusion Coordinator. And he's spent three and a half years finding out exactly where he belongs in the NHS. His job is to help patients navigate the NHS app and digital services. He goes to libraries, community events, welfare centres - anywhere people might need help but be afraid to ask. And what he's discovered challenges everything we think we...

In this episode, we meet Colin Dunkley, a paediatrician who specialises in epilepsy. Colin didn’t choose epilepsy because he loved it - he chose it because it was being done badly and families were arriving in his clinic traumatized with nowhere to turn. Twenty years before the NHS 10-year plan talked about prevention over treatment, Colin realised he couldn’t fix epilepsy care from a clinic. He h...

In this episode, we meet Arron Smith, Specialty General Manager for Theatres, Anaesthetics and Critical Care. Arron came to the NHS just over two years ago from the RAF - with zero clinical background and everything to learn. We explore the two sliding doors moments that shaped his path: being rejected by the police and marines but accepted by the Air Force, and losing his father a year before lea...

In this episode, we meet Sally Palmer, Nurse Consultant in Infection Prevention and Control. Most people never see what Sally does - and if she's doing it well, they never will. Because the best infection control is invisible. Sally's work runs at 100 miles an hour. Checking overnight results. Investigating outbreaks. Building water safety protocols. Designing ventilation specs for new buildings....

As part of National Apprenticeship Week 2026, this special episode of Only Human After All explores how apprenticeships are transforming careers. We meet three apprentices at very different stages of life and work. Richie is about to qualify as a physiotherapist in his 30s after years of practical experience and self-doubt about whether he had the “right” grades. Lacey thought her university plans...

In this episode of Only Human After All, we meet Amanda Barrett, a nurse by background who now leads major improvement projects across diagnostics. Amanda talks about her personal journey from ward leadership into project management, and how her nursing identity continues to shape her work. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Mansfield — now...

In this episode, we meet Jo Freeman, Assistant Chief Pharmacist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals for the past 12 years. When the chief pharmacist post came up, people kept asking why she wasn’t applying. But a colleague warned her about the flattery trap - and Jo chose to stay where she adds the most value. We explore the misunderstood world of hospital pharmacy, the weight of becoming a prescriber, a...

Andrea finally sits in the guest chair — the second of our holiday specials where the hosts swap roles. James and Vicky ask about the patient whose husband she sat with all night, learning to champion the underdog after her own work-related stress, why joy and mischief matter as much as care, and the sliding doors moment when a young PA changed the entire direction of her career. A conversation ab...

After dozens of interviews, co-host James Thomas finally takes his turn in the guest seat — the first of two holiday specials where the hosts swap roles.  Andrea and Amanda ask about Lego obsessions, losing a Welsh accent at medical school, that first patient who died, learning to delegate without red pen and why wandering through a career without a plan might be the best advice he's ever followed...

Rachel Gibbons works on reception in histopathology at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. She greets people with a smile, types reports and prepares MDT slides – but her knowledge gained from years in the department has saved lives closer to home than she ever imagined. In this episode, Rachel shares how her understanding of pathology helped spot cancer in three family members: her stepson's rare sarcoma,...

Dr Saroona Haroon is a histopathologist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals and a self-described "detective of the microscope." In this conversation, she reveals the world behind the biopsies – the careful art of diagnosing disease from tiny tissue slices, the three-micron precision of lab work, and the deep satisfaction of solving diagnostic puzzles that directly help patients she'll never meet. Saroona...

Claire Etches has spent 20 years caring for sick children on Ward 25. Two years ago she did something pretty unusual – she started teaching medical students. Not nursing students. Medical students. In this conversation, Claire talks about what it's like being the first nurse in her role at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, demystifying paediatrics for terrified students who've never held a baby, and why...

In this special episode for Allied Health Professional Day, Andrea and James celebrate the extraordinary world of AHPs with Kate Wright, Chief Allied Health Professional at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. Kate lifts the lid on the 14 professions that make up this vital, diverse workforce — from dietitians and physiotherapists to orthoptists, radiographers and paramedics. Together, they explore what uni...

Respiratory physician and Associate Medical Director Dr Zahid Noor joins us to share a 35-year story of courage, grit and service — from arriving in the UK from Pakistan in 1989 to mentoring hundreds of internationally educated doctors at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. He recalls the early hurdles of PLAB, culture shock and living on £5 a week for food, right down to the “burnt chickpeas and baked bea...

Fifteen years into paediatric nursing, Tania Bacon is Deputy Ward Leader on Sherwood Forest’s Ward 25 and a driving force behind Greatex — positive incident reporting that captures what goes right so teams can learn from it. Tania takes us inside a 34-bed children’s ward where nurses often care for parents as much as for resilient young patients, and where playful “pink fluffy care” helps reduce f...

Brent Gillicker is a registered Operating Department Practitioner who once served as a Royal Navy submariner. He talks about bringing submarine-honed resourcefulness into theatres, expanding the ODP role as a surgical first assistant, and why details like a neat suture line matter to patients. Brent shares a simple idea that speeds change — his “iterative meeting” — and a leader-leader mindset ins...

Irvine Makani’s story is one of transformation, resilience, and heart. Trained in aerospace engineering and once dreaming of becoming a pilot, Irvine’s life took an unexpected turn following personal loss—and led him into nursing. In this powerful conversation, he reflects on his journey from South Africa to Zimbabwe to the UK, shares what it’s really like working on the frontline of emergency car...

Jodie Ward never planned to become a nurse. She joined the hospital as a hostess, delivering meals to patients — until one day, she overheard a nurse calming a distressed family and thought, “I want to do that.” In this heartwarming episode, Jodie takes us on her extraordinary journey from dinner trolley to children’s ward rising through the ranks as a single parent, becoming one of our first paed...

In this inspiring episode of Only Human After All, we meet Dr Neelakshi "Neela" Armugam – Radiology Registrar, newly appointed Chief Registrar and all-round warm and wise presence at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. Neela shares her fascinating journey from a Mauritian family of nurses to becoming a doctor in a specialty she clearly loves. She opens up about her hopes for junior (or rather, “resident”)...

In this inspiring episode, we meet Nicki Williams, a passionate and compassionate arrhythmia nurse specialist who opens up about her journey through cardiology, patient advocacy and life as a mum navigating serious health challenges at home. From supporting patients with complex heart rhythms and life-limiting conditions to her powerful volunteer work with POTS UK including a recent visit to Parli...

In this episode of Only Human After All, we meet Amanda Barrett, a nurse by background who now leads major improvement projects across diagnostics. Amanda talks about her personal journey from ward leadership into project management, and how her nursing identity continues to shape her work. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Mansfield, a pr...

This week on Only Human After All, we meet Tom Palmer—an NHS financial controller with a surprising story. Tom shares how a love of maths and a leap into a finance apprenticeship led him into a decade-long NHS career. Along the way, he’s learned that good financial leadership isn’t about saying no—it’s about working alongside clinical teams to enable better care. He opens up about being an introve...