Helen Blanchard

Managing Consultant

Makes

Developing strategy; Problem solving – I can think on my feet and look calm in any situation.

Breaks

Coffee (but only the good stuff); Gin (any gin will do); Miserable 90s indie music.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I love going to the cinema or the theatre and drinking gin, and sometimes skilfully combine both of these interests. I work as a volunteer on a helpline and am involved in training other volunteers. I paint very badly.

A bit about me

Following a history degree, I joined the NHS as a bright eyed and bushy tailed graduate management trainee in 1992. Over the next seventeen years I managed a range of clinical services as a general manager and worked on a hospital wide service transformation programme before moving into my final NHS role as Director of Strategy and Marketing at an NHS Foundation Trust.

The most rewarding part of my NHS career was helping staff and services to develop and thrive so that we could offer the best possible care to patients. The most challenging was leading a series of public consultation meetings as part of a major clinical service reconfiguration project.

I have worked as a consultant since 2010 and joined 4OC in 2017. I chose to work at 4OC because I really like the people and the supportive culture.

Helen is part of the Health team.