Robin Youngson
Robin is a physician and anaesthetic specialist in New Zealand, internationally renowned for his leadership promoting compassion in healthcare. He is the CoFounder of ‘Hearts in Healthcare’, a global social movement for health professionals, students, patient activists, health managers and all those passionate about rehumanising healthcare.
He began his career as an engineer having many adventures in Alaska, Sweden, Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand. He returned to England to study medicine in 1980 and subsequently obtained Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in England and Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He has lived in New Zealand with his wife Meredith since 1992.
Robin was a pioneering leader in patient safety and quality improvement, at both the local and national level. He was a founding member of the national Quality Improvement Committee in New Zealand and was the NZ representative on the World Health Organisation International Steering Committee for Patient Safety Solutions. He also helped launch the WHO strategy for ‘People at the Centre of Healthcare’ in 2007.
Since 2006, he has been a passionate advocate for human-centered healthcare, compassion and caring. Frustrated at his inability to get these issues onto the agenda at the professional, political or managerial level, he decided to pursue different strategies.
In 2011, both Robin and Meredith quit their jobs, sold their home, down-sized, and made a commitment to follow their passion using the power of informal networks and social movements. Hearts in Healthcare was founded in 2012. Their work has taken them to many locations in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, the USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, and the UK.
Robin continues to be an honorary senior lecturer at Auckland University, is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Compassionate Healthcare, and is a Fellow of the International Center for Compassionate Organizations. He is the author of the acclaimed book ‘TIME TO CARE – How to love your patients and your job’, now also published in Dutch and being translated into German.
For further information see: heartsinhealthcare.com
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