Dr Paul Settle Consultant Neonatologist

About me

Paul is a GenerationQ Fellow and Consultant Neonatologist and Clinical Lead for the Neonatal Intensive Care Service at Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Paul obtained his medical degree from the University of Manchester in 1992, having previously completed a degree in oncology and immunology in 1989. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 1998.

From 2001-03, Paul was a research fellow at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester and he was awarded a doctorate in medicine in 2004. He became a neonatal consultant at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in 2006 and moved to Royal Bolton Hospital in 2011.

He is a member of the Greater Manchester Neonatal Intensive Care Partnership’s Clinical Advisory Group and Chair of the Paediatric and Neonatal Clinical Advisory Group.

Paul says that taking part in GenerationQ helped him to understand the role that culture plays in quality improvement. 'I hadn’t fully appreciated how much impact the way you interact with people can have on culture. Previously, if I wanted to see a change in culture I’d probably have sat down and written out a strategy for achieving that. Now, I understand that culture is constantly changing and I can influence it by being thoughtful about my own actions.'

He adds that the fellowship has given him the confidence to try out different leadership approaches and improvement techniques. 'It was fantastic to work alongside such a diverse group of people from across the health system. I felt there was a lot we were all about to learn from each others’ experiences and often came away feeling inspired to try out a new approach myself.'

GenerationQ is supporting Paul as he takes on a new leadership role across the hospital trust. 'Reducing C. difficile infection rates is a major area of focus for the trust. Starting from June 2013, I’ll be leading a project to examine the degree to which clinicians are engaging with the issue of C. difficile infections and how we can empower people to take responsibility for driving infection rates down. Within a year, I’d like to see a measurable shift in culture that supports our wider efforts to avoid C. difficile bacterial infections.'