Dear Readers,
This week on Out of Programme, we’re joined by Dr Rishi Das-Gupta — a doctor who spent a decade in top-tier consulting before returning to transform the NHS from the inside. From accidental BMA leadership to shaping system-wide innovation across South London, his journey offers a rare blueprint for building impact at scale.
🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
You can also listen on: 🎧 Spotify
⚕️ Accidental Activist - Rishi’s BMA role wasn’t planned — he “didn’t step back quickly enough” when volunteers were asked. But that accidental leadership opened his eyes to systemic problems “that weren’t obvious” from the bedside, and set the trajectory for everything that followed.
🏛️ The Consulting Decade - Planning a two-year stint at McKinsey to learn how other industries solve problems, Rishi ended up staying ten years — building a US practice at Oliver Wyman, leading hospital turnarounds, and discovering that the skills clinicians undervalue (like talking to 10,000 patients) are exactly what consulting firms prize most.
🏥 Returning to the NHS - After a decade away, Rishi returned to UCLH as a transformation director — an unorthodox move that only worked because his external experience was valued. He later joined Royal Brompton as CIO and reshaped the role into a Chief Innovation & Technology Officer, bringing outsourced transformation work in-house.
🌍 System Leadership at Scale - Now CEO of Health Innovation Network South London and DigitalHealth.London, Rishi coordinates innovation adoption across trusts, community services, and primary care — working to stop the “incoherent and bitty” landscape where neighbouring organisations implement opposite solutions.
💰 The Investor Perspective - Rishi encourages clinicians to explore angel investing via EIS/SEIS schemes, arguing that doctors bring unique due-diligence value. But he’s also honest: “I suspect quite a lot of clinicians, if they spent more time investing, would go, I’d rather do the clinical job.”
Rishi’s episode is proof that:
🔄 A career detour doesn’t have to be permanent — and often equips you to return with more impact than if you’d never left
🏛️ The skills we build “by accident” (patient communication, policy negotiation) are often more transferable than we realise
🧩 System-level change requires people who’ve seen the problem from multiple angles — clinical, operational, consulting, and regional
🚪 There are always routes back into clinical practice if you’re willing to “give a bit of your ego” and relearn in a supported environment
As Rishi says:
“I now have impact probably across more patients than I would have done in clinical practice alone because it’s about how systems work and how we deliver at scale and how we deliver consistently.”
Applications are open for the BiteLabs Digital Health, AI & Innovation Fellowship — cohorts in both the UK and the US.
BiteLabs is where clinicians build, launch and lead in digital health. 800+ fellows · 200+ advisors · £15M+ raised · Rated 4.9 on Google.
Apply via Out of Programme and you’ll receive: ✅ Extra points on your application 🎯 A 1:1 career coaching session with the BiteLabs team 🤝 A personal session with a BiteLabs founder
🔗 Apply at bitelabs.io 💬 Use referral code: OUTOFPROGRAMME in your application form
💡 Subscribe for more stories of career reinvention:
🗞️ Substack | ▶️ YouTube | 🎧 Spotify | 🍏 Apple Podcasts | 🔗 LinkedIn
If you know someone contemplating their next move — share this episode with them!
Until next time,
Dr Jing Ouyang
👉 Follow me on LinkedIn for a behind-the-scenes look and reflections on Out of Programme.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.