12.09.2019 | Insight

Which UK HCP would make the best NHS App Ambassador? Now you can decide

By Daniel Ghinn

Which UK HCP would make the best NHS App Ambassador? Now you can decide

“The best advert for our NHS is our extraordinary staff who continue to be the envy of the world”, says England’s Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May, who has launched NHS Digital’s appeal to find NHS App Ambassadors.

NHS Digital is looking for ten NHS workers to become the face of the NHS App on social media and in their communities.

Since CREATION Pinpoint is tracking the online conversations of more than 100,000 UK healthcare professionals (HCPs), including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals, we decided to take a quick look at who among UK HCPs on Twitter might be the best social media influencer for the NHS App. The team at CREATION studied more than half a million tweets posted by UK HCPs about the NHS since the start of 2019.

There are many factors that could determine whether an NHS HCP would make a positive advocate for NHS App, and we considered just a few of them in this brief analysis. Here’s what we found:

Which UK HCP has the most Twitter followers?

The UK HCP with the greatest number of Twitter followers is Ben Goldacre. With almost half a million followers worldwide, Dr Goldacre is surely approaching Twitter stardom. He rarely tweets about the NHS App, but when he does, he makes an impact.

Is Ben Goldacre the NHS worker Ruth May is looking for? Since he has only mentioned the NHS App once this year on Twitter, let’s take a look at some other factors.

Which UK HCP mentions the NHS App most?

If Dr May is looking for an NHS worker who already promotes the NHS App, she need look no further than Nottingham-based GP, Dr Hussain Gandhi. At the time of writing, Dr Gandhi has mentioned the NHS App 27 times so far in 2019.

An early adopter of the NHS App, Dr Gandhi shared a post back in May 2019 announcing that “The new NHS App has now launched in all Nottingham & Nottinghamshire GP practices.” And he actively encourages uptake of the App; last month, he launched an explainer video on Youtube to help patients.

Should Dr Gandhi be one of the ten NHS App Ambassadors? He is certainly keen.

Which UK HCP talks about the NHS most?

Paediatrician Dr Umesh Prabhu has mentioned the NHS in his tweets more than 15,000 times so far this year alone – that’s an average of around sixty times every day!

His most frequent topic of conversation is leadership in the NHS, an area he is passionate about, but, like Dr Goldacre, he rarely mentions the NHS App.

As the HCP who tweets about the NHS almost four times as much as any other UK HCP, could Dr Prabhu be an NHS App Ambassador?

Which UK HCP is most active on Twitter?

If you think that no HCP could post more tweets than Dr Prabhu, think again. Many UK pharmacists are incredibly active on Twitter, and none more so than Inverness, Scotland-based Gordon Mackenzie.

Mackenzie tweets almost exclusively about politics, with special attention given to Brexit. Since the beginning of 2019 alone, he has tweeted more than 50,000 times. That’s an average of one tweet every 6.8 minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Could a pharmacist like Gordon Mackenzie make an NHS App Ambassador? Sadly I don’t think he would qualify, since the NHS App is only available in England.

Which UK HCP is most followed by peers in the UK?

Would it help if the NHS App Ambassador is well followed by their HCP peers in the UK? Aside from Ben Goldacre, the UK’s most-followed HCP, the UK HCP with the greatest peer following is Private Eye’s MD, Dr Phil Hammond.

But the only time Dr Hammond mentioned the NHS App on Twitter this year was not in a very positive light, when he shared a tweet by NHS Consultant, Dr Murphy.

Choose the top NHS App Ambassador

With all that in mind, here’s a table showing how we ranked UK HCPs on Twitter for suitability as NHS App Ambassadors. Our tip for Dr May is to rank the data below by CREATION.co’s NHS App Score, which uses a weighted score based on each of the factors above. Or try sorting by any of the other columns.

NameRoleLocationCREATION.co NHS App ScoreAll followersUK HCP followersNHS mentions*NHS App mentions*Tweets posted*
David OliverGeriatrics and acute general medicine consultantReading9720602429139331435071
Anne CunninghamGeneral practitionerCardiff67185472555516172891
Amir HannanGeneral practitionerHyde671091814641038142787
Umesh PrabhuPaediatricianOldham5928775387415174047384
Sara NelsonNurseBeckenham581516251889182781
AnnieNurseBirmingham5729221703184199
Linda DykesEmergency medicine practitioner and general practitionerBangor561157430092155426806
Hussain GandhiGeneral practitionerNottingham563217858377271956
Chris TackPhysiotherapistLondon551728301382112448
Melissa AndisonOccupational therapistSurrey541224106376131149
Dermot O'RiordanSurgeonBury St Edmunds538467159930893276
Kath EvansPaediatric nurseLondon51295964269207717192
Asif BachlaniPsychiatristLondon501927180149383575
Jo NurseManchester4847798692151410810
Partha KarDiabetes and endocrinology consultantSouthsea48165452512214236447
Liz O'RiordanBreast surgeonBury St Edmunds4819228259028966564
Trisha GreenhalghGeneral practitionerOxford4645862658715433516
Nikita KananiGeneral practitionerLondon46117231858165852561
Jane SproatNurseLondon46188031180482521
Stuart BerryGeneral practitionerPendle461833520581317483
Phil HammondDoctorSomerset4563356644534022886
Gordon CaldwellConsultant PhysicianOban45148993084150325447
Osman BhattiGeneral practitionerLondon4512432261499385
Mark JonesPaediatricianLondon4466431363742020640
Sharon WhiteNurseLeeds44840513281590311617
MurphyNHS Consultant4349357252348969
Linda VernonMSK physiotherapistBlackpool43351622939882110
Kenny GibsonNurseLondon4168491447250808683
Dennis SingsonNurseSussex41750118226529048
Farah JameelGeneral practitionerLondon40353771830571009
Ben GoldacreClinical research fellowOxford3948256894618211360
Theresa PorrettNurseLondon3972111443156324814
Maurice SmithGeneral practitionerLiverpool3995082469233
Mark RadfordNurseLondon3792072197147233644
Rachel ClarkePalliative care doctorOxford3682289610742201589
Julie WoolmanNursePlymouth3651131783110524074
Cath KeayNurseLincolnshire34471373387633
Clare GeradaGeneral practitionerLondon334367554811050706
Teresa ChinnNurseBristol3321976385731214611
Nuwan DissanayakaPsychiatristLondon333301579108718951
Christian JessenDoctorLondon323235626383190996
Nigel HealNurseNewport32857941919142884
Anna Conway MorrisPsychiatristCambridge324716587105317812
Mike HenleyUrologistDerby3147951309176205464
Kate CushingGeneral practitionerNewcastle3130543421524024604
Taz AldawoudGeneral practitionerBradford3160351587141
Patricia CantleyGeriatricianEdinburgh3191581881380110091
Aseem MalhotraCardiologistLondon3058909222931603983
Sheena ByromMidwifeNorth England3019410221537014812
Corinne PowerNurseLeeds30389603086504
Alexander DaveyAnaesthetistBelfast30132814720551601
Dave JonesPropofologistWales292574136269013000
Hilary GarrattChief NursingManchester291457527773663800
Charles GutteridgeHaematologistLondon2924483572695851
Segun OlusanyaICU doctorReading296391115730317959
Gordon MackenziePharmacistInverness2821911021093053789
Clive PeedellOncologistStockton-on-tees2833566337219601584
Sri KalidindiPsychiatristLondon286546929156503756
Jane PadmoreNurseHertfordshire281653319141031826
Lisa Bayliss-PrattNurseBirmingham2898772103109602714
Ranj SinghPaediatrician doctorLondon279696236485801179
Paul MorganIntensivistCardiff27450486542518291
Benjamin JanawayPsychiatristLondon2731594151811804906
Peter EnglishPublic health physicianEpsom273748510913018660
John McCormickGeneral practitionerDevon275225152692
Ursula MontgomeryGeneral practitionerLeicester275427537051324
Penelope TindallNurseWiltshire261236191215034408
Ron DanielsIntensive Care DoctorBirmingham2621641362011601743
Ellie CannonGeneral practitionerLondon2625291228918002092
Harvey OlufunmilayoGeneral practitionerBradford2587951800017304
Paul GilluleyPsychiatristLondon252935483182603365
Nitin AroraIntensivistBirmingham254119856129704122
Gary RossPlastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeonManchester24154577206940493
Dorothy BishopNeuropsychologistOxford243475518864204026
Abdul RazaqPublic health physicianSuffolk2432711115618701516
Farzana HussainGeneral practitionerLondon24111496102413024
K.J. SimmillReiki masterStaffordshire234669957107355
Rosena Allin-KhanA&E doctorLondon234319814424101688
Lloyd ArmstrongMental health nurseColchester2336464225400585
Samir ShahPsychiatristLondon2352284155119
Tamal RayDoctorLondon229444619861066
Dawn HarperGeneral practitionerGloucestershire22602181782210295
Rangan ChatterjeeGeneral practitionerManchester223567815531301637
Viv BennettChief NurseLondon22212553681500407
Evelyn ProdgerNursePeacehaven221426291143703347
Pixie MckennaGeneral practitionerCambridge2247706150000196
Helgi JohannssonConsultant anaesthetist and clinical director for theatresLondon21168663438410830
Simon CarleyConsultant in Emergency MedicineManchester212041129554701579
Seth O'NeillPhysiotherapistLeicester212327822823501404
Teck KhongGeneral practitionerLeicester21177281397408735
Rachel FentonOrthopaedic nurseLondon201608225581070
Alex GeorgeA&E doctorLondon2015027661300464
Sarah BrewerMedical nutritionistGuernsey20664896150028
James MortonDoctorGlasgow206098283600167
Chris MorganPhysiotherapistLiverpool207082372120102
Jason LairdPhysiotherapistLilleshall2023828224010447
Matthew SidfordNurseGloucester20233025128019893
Nervana MahmoudAnaesthesiologistUK193843874504385
Natalie SilveyAnaesthetistLondon191155624355501120
Salma YaqoobPsychotherapistBirmingham1853896454210867

* between January 1st, 2019 and September 10th, 2019

Methodology notes:

  • We used data from CREATION Pinpoint’s global database tracking more than 1.9M HCP social media profiles, which were identified using AI and then manually verified. The dataset for this study was restricted to 61,284 social media profiles of HCPs known to be in the UK and on Twitter.
  • Although we understand that NHS England is looking for ambassadors from England, we took an inclusive approach, so some of our top-ranking HCPs are based in Wales, Scotland or other British Isles.
  • Note that not all HCP mentions of NHS App were advocating for the App; in fact some of the HCPs mentioning the App were quite sceptical.
  • We excluded from our dataset those HCPs known to work for NHS X or NHS Digital, many of whom are naturally enthusiastic about their work. We assumed that Dr May wishes to look more widely among NHS staff.
  • We also excluded HCPs who are no longer practising, including retired HCPs.
  • Many NHS staff are not included in our analysis, since we only looked at healthcare professionals, which we defined as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health workers.
  • Some of the HCPs in our analysis might not currently work for the NHS, but we understand they are all UK-based HCPs. If you know differently, let us know!

For more information about CREATION.co’s methodology or HCP insights, please do get in touch.


Image source: NHS Digital

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Meet the Author

Daniel Ghinn

Daniel has been at the helm throughout the company’s life since 1998. His rich expertise in working with pharmaceutical businesses has enabled CREATION to build business solutions that fit our clients’ needs.

Daniel is married to Jo, has three children, a cat, a dog, 28 fish, and 160,000 bees.

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