Bridget Turner Director of Policy and Care Improvement

About me

Bridget is a GenerationQ Fellow and Director of Policy and Care Improvement at Diabetes UK.

She is responsible for the development of the organisation’s policy and care agenda.

She works closely with healthcare professionals, researchers, people living with diabetes, national policy makers and local decision makers, to influence opportunities to deliver solutions that improve the quality of care.

Bridget’s interest in quality improvement goes back to the start of her professional career at Camden and Islington Medical Audit Advisory Group, where she supported general practice teams to undertake clinical audit. She later worked at Bromley Health, developing public health needs assessment profiles to inform service commissioning.

She joined the health care delivery team at Diabetes UK in 1997 and was appointed Head of Policy and Care Improvement in 2000. She has held her current role since 2012.

Bridget has an MA in Health Service Studies from the University of Leeds.

Bridget feels that GenerationQ has given her a comprehensive understanding of different approaches to leadership and quality improvement, which supports her work to influence improvement in key areas of the NHS. She explains: 'For our Putting Feet First campaign, for example, we used data measurement to identify gaps in diabetic foot care services and engaged with local decision makers to campaign for the establishment of multidisciplinary foot care teams. More areas are now offering services that provide fast treatment of diabetic foot disease to reduce the risk of amputation.

'One of the most powerful lessons that I learnt is the role of context in making leadership decisions – you need to stop and think about where you are and how it relates to what you want to achieve. Most leadership development programmes don’t explore this, but focusing on context opens your eyes to the range of approaches that are available and helps you to bring people along with you.'

Bridget says that the fellowship has helped her to flourish both professionally and personally: 'I wouldn’t be where I am currently in my career without GenerationQ. The strength and confidence that the programme gave me continues to have a positive effect on my work at Diabetes UK and our drive to improve the lives of people living with diabetes.

'It’s made a difference to my life on a personal level too – I have Type 1 diabetes and feel that I gained greater insight into my character and how managing my diabetes impacts on how I lead through uncertainty.'