“There’s a lot of un-learning to do, as well as learning”

A passionate champion of transformative action and change, Prabhjit Chana CMgr MCMI has always wanted “to lead and innovate.” And for the last ten years, her work has been helping to improve the health of a nation. “It has been an incredible journey and professional feat,” she says. 

From a “humble” background, Prabhjit has fought through adversity to establish her career. After studying biochemistry and not getting the grades she needed for medical school, she dedicated herself to transforming and embedding leadership skills, workforce plans and development across the UK and South Asia, including spending six years at Skills for Health, the largest of all the skills councils that were then in place.

But then, in 2013, the headhunters came to call.

Since then, she has been in Qatar working for Lord Ara Darzi as part of a small team of expert consultants supporting the transformation of the state’s healthcare – “an opportunity that many would dream of”. Prabhjit has focused on establishing “an evidence-based healthcare system that focuses on wellness, wellbeing and preventative care for all, especially for underrepresented groups, where people, culture and skills matter”; a system that not only supports a healthy nation, but also empowers practitioners’ with essential career and executive leadership skills.

Her inspiring work has earned her a place on the shortlist for Chartered Manager of the Year 2022.

World-firsts

The expansion of the healthcare system over the time that Prabhjit has been working in Qatar has been remarkable. The number of healthcare centres has grown from 10 to 28 – and these are not just basic primary healthcare centres, she adds. “These are state-of-the-art centres taking a genuinely holistic view of health.” Each one requires a skilled clinical and non-clinical team, with all their attendant requirements for mandatory CPD and leadership development skills.

Qatar now boasts one of the highest health workforce densities in the world and, as a nation with a relatively small population, most of that workforce (roughly 85%) is international.