Neil Bacon Blog

A passionate obsession to create better outcomes for patients and a better future for healthcare

 

An Oxford and Harvard trained nephrologist with a clinical and academic career spanning 18 years (published on dialysis biocompatibility, central line sepsis and hypoxic gene regulation with Nobel laureate Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe), Neil Bacon revolutionised the UK medical community in 1998 when he founded the multi-award winning Doctors.net.uk, growing it to become the world’s largest, online medical network. His vision and pioneering work in harnessing the power of the internet to change the way in which the UK medical profession learns, communicates and collaborates – and the contribution this has made to healthcare for patients – was recognised when he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London.

After 12 years leading the business he successfully exited to launch iWantGreatCare.org: the UK’s only open, independent service allowing the public to rate and review their doctors, dentists, hospitals, medicines and care homes. Giving patients and the public unprecedented power to feedback and improve the care they receive, the company attracted high-profile, widespread media-coverage, as it challenged professional preconceptions. Forward thinking care providers (and their patients) who were “early adopters” of the service benefited from the transformational way in which iWantGreatCare allowed strategy and service delivery to continuously improve,  achieving “astonishing results”.

In 2013 Neil was recognised as a UK clinical leader of the year; one of those “making the greatest impact on health policy, service transformation, and innovation”. In the same year he was also included in the list of the UK’s Health Innovators of the Year.

In 2014 the Sunday Times identified Neil as one of the 500 most influential people in Britain.

In 2018 Neil was invited by Professor Michael Porter to become President and CEO of ICHOM.org, the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement. Leading this global organisation with its vision of better outcomes for all patients was a natural next step, combining Neil’s passion for patient care and better outcomes with his experience of deploying innovative technology for data-driven transformation. ICHOM believes that outcomes that matter to patients are the outcomes that matter most, and are those on which global quality should be judged – perfectly aligned with Neil’s career-long quest to deliver the greatest benefit to the greatest number of patients.

Through his political awareness, public speaking and advisory roles he has supported the drive for the patient voice to be a central focus of quality improvement in health and social care. Aligning a detailed, scientific understanding of the global evidence-base with continuous, “relentlessly reasonable” clinical engagement, he has contributed to the inclusion of patient ratings and reviews as part of UK Government policy.

The combination of entrepreneurial leadership, international clinical experience, innovative delivery of proven online healthcare solutions, and an understanding of how to drive transformation of public service, has led to a busy and varied schedule! As well as founding and growing two disruptive businesses, Neil has advised a number of the world’s largest companies, not for profits and public-sector organisations.

In addition to hosting the podcast Healthcare Futures, he is an international speaker and regular contributor of articles and thought-leader pieces.