Healthcare Scientists

Healthcare Scientists are some of the unsung heroes of the NHS, working, often behind the scenes, to develop our services through better diagnostic testing and treatment, improving patient experience and outcomes.

There are more than 50,000 Healthcare Scientists in the NHS, with around 500 of them here at NNUH. Dr John FitzGerald, Head of Audiology and Consultant Clinical Scientist, is our first Lead Healthcare Scientist.

“My role is to support and develop healthcare sciences across the Trust,” he said. “We’re the scientific backbone of the NHS and our work underpins around 80% of all diagnoses. One of our main roles is to bring about service innovation through conducting research or applying research findings.

“We cover over 25 specialties including pathology services, medical electronics and instrumentation, medical engineering, radiation protection and monitoring, and also work directly with patients in nuclear medicine, radiotherapy physics and the physiological sciences (cardiology, urology, neurophysiology, ophthalmic and vision science, respiratory and sleep physiology, vascular science, gastro-intestinal physiology and my own specialism, audiology).”

Find out more about the role of Healthcare Scientists on these pages and hear John talk about the healthcare sciences below: