Martin Elliott
speaker, writer, surgeon
Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery (UCL)
Fellow & Emeritus Professor of Physic at Gresham College, London
Retired Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon
The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London
NED at The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS FT, London
NED at Children's Health Ireland, Dublin
Chief Medical Officer of Allocate Software
Oct 02, 2019
Lessons from The Bristol Scandal in the UK; the case for transparency and regionalization
Plenary Address, The Transparency Summit, Columbus Ohio, USA
"Not only was your presentation outstanding, but your ongoing contribution was essential to driving the conversation forward, here in the US."
Amy Basken
Director of Programs
Pediatric Congenital Heart Association
Oct 02, 2019
Freedom to Speak Up
Visiting Professor, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA
The Risks of Silence
Sep 19, 2019
Culture in the Medical Workplace
Invited Lecture, Allocate Leadership Meeting, Old Trafford, Manchester, UK
Jul 15, 2019
The Conclusions of the China Tribunal
Invited Address, Committee Room 13, House of Commons, Palace of Westminster, London, UK
A presentation to a House of Commons Committee
Jun 03, 2019
(1) Complex Tracheal Reconstruction in Children (2) Forced organ donation in China (3) Regionalisation of cardiac care in the UK (4) Formula 1 and its Contribution to Healthcare
Visiting Professor, University of Minnessota, Minneapolis, USA
"You were a great Visiting Professor. I have had several remark about how interesting, stimulating, challenging your talks were, and a couple said they thought it was our best Professorship ever! I would agree."
Professor David Overman, Minneapolis
Apr 07, 2019
Challenges of paediatric cardiac surgery; art, science and career
Invited Lecture, Imperial Medical School, London
An exploration of the overlap between art and science in modern surgery
Jan 24, 2019
Maximise the Data, Minimise the Fraud; a plea to change the way we publish
The Werner Zuber Memorial Lecture, European Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Wengen, Switzerland
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Jan 08, 2019
Sex Lies and Videotape; Fake News in medical publishing and what we should do about it
Medico-Legal Lawyers Luncheon Club, Royal Society of Medicine, London
"Excellent talk. Everyone enjoyed it. Really Good."
Kieran Coonan, QC
Nov 20, 2018
Learning from Other Industries; a life in risk
Keynote Address, Aviva Wholesale Conference, Corinthia Hotel, London
"Inspirational!"
Stewart Robertson, Organiser, Aviva Inverstors
Nov 17, 2018
Optimizing Quality in Clinical Procedures
Invited Plenary Lecture, Belgian Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Senneffe, Belgium
The power of transparency in data presentation to optimise team performance. Lessons from high performing industries.
Oct 25, 2018
A Life in Risk and Lives at Risk
Keynote Address. General Insurance Reseach Organisation, ICC Birmingham, UK
Two contrasting experiences; managing risk at scale, and the risk of managing complex issues when life is at stake
Oct 02, 2018
Nice work if you can get it; the balance between courage and fear
Keynote Lecture. Aviva Institional Investors Conference, The Shard, London, UK
"A GREAT presentation!"
Sep 16, 2018
The Current Medical Publishing Model is Flawed, and open to Fraud
After Dinner Speech for Wolters Klowers Inc, Tower Bridge, London, UK
Sep 09, 2018
Nice Work if you can get it! Life as a surgeon
Presentation for "Speakers for Schools", Excelsior Academy, Denton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Speakers for Schools is a charity started by Robert Peston. It gives school students the chance to hear first hand from people in careers whom they might not otherwise meet. It is really humbling and uplifting for the speaker!!
The students ...commented,
'Really inspirational/inspiring,'
'emotional and moving,'
'The best assembly I've ever had,'
'It makes me want to be a better person.'
'Amazing', 'fascinating.'
Jun 19, 2018
Motivating your team: the power of data
Keynote Address, Nestle plc Leadership Summit, Alton Towers, UK
"An inspiring session...resonated across the room'
Gharry Eccles. Regional Vice President CP UK
May 29, 2018
The Pursuit of Excellence
Keynote Address, Sanofi Product Launch, Munich, Germany
May 22, 2018
Media Reporting of Medical Advances
Gresham College Public Lecture
The media and medicine have different perspectives. At least in part, this is due to a preference for individual human stories over detailed analysis of results.
This lecture used examples of how the public may be misled and consider the implications of such misunderstanding.
May 01, 2018
Keeping the Wealthy Alive; value and ethics in medicine
Invited Lecture to The Huxley Science Society, Westminster School, London, UK
"Outstandingly good talk from Prof Martin Elliott at Huxley Society about ‘keeping the wealthy alive’. Genuinely thought provoking and hugely insightful."
Apr 29, 2018
Maximise the Data, Minimise the Fraud; a plea to change the way we publish
Invited Guest Plenary Lecture, The American Association of Thoracic Surgeons, San Diego, CA, USA
Audience Tweets; "Brilliant speech", "fantastic presentation", "amazing talk". "my favourite talk of the day", "inspiring", "provoking, timely, brilliant", "thought provoking and stimulating as always"
Apr 22, 2018
Ingenuity, teamwork and excellence
Keynote Address with Mark Gallagher for PA Consulting. Evian, France
“Martin spoke at our Global Partner Conference and was a huge success. What particularly resonated was his numerous examples of innovation, and the way in which he has brought outside in thinking into his very specialist world. It was inspiring, optimistic and thought-provoking”
Andrew Hooke, Head of Consulting, PA Consulting Group
Feb 28, 2018
Teamwork, data and blame
Keynote lecture, IVCC5 and DS Smith Plc, Geneva, Switzerland
How good data can change behaviour and the pernicious effects of a blame culture
Feb 08, 2018
Value, Costs and Pathways in Medicine
Invited Lecture, to General Managers Course, The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
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Jan 30, 2018
Teamwork and the good use of data to achieve excellence. Surgery and F1
Keynote Address with Mark Gallagher (F1 presenter, formerly of Ford Cosworth), International Temperature Controlled Logistics Congress, Twickenham, London
Combining our experience of two high-risk sectors to reveal lesson suitable for other complex organisations seeking excellence
Jan 16, 2018
Achieving Excellence in Complex Teams
Keynote Lecture, Schroder's Recognition Scheme. London, UK
Motivational tricks to enhance performance
Jan 11, 2018
Teamwork and Professionalism in Medicine; lessons from highh risk organisations
Keynote Lecture, Excellence in Education, The Royal Marsden Hospital, London
Lessons learned from various industries which have had an impact on the safety and effectiveness of medicine.
Dec 04, 2017
Optimising Quality in Surgical Procedures
Invited Keynote Lecture, KU Leuven, Belgium
A paean to the right measures and transparency
Nov 30, 2017
Change during hard times
Keynote Address, East of England NHS Leadership Academy
Nov 21, 2017
Teamwork, Change and Leadership
Keynote Address, Aviva Insurance Summit, London UK
Nov 03, 2017
Errors, teamwork and blame
Keynote Address, Pennington Manches Annual Partner Conference
"Martin Elliott was excellent- probably the best speaker I have ever heard. I thought he “got” the audience and pitched it just right- mix of important points he wanted to get across plus humour. The way he explained applying an approach from completely outside of his world and the challenges that presented was fascinating. His “humble” approach for such an important man was impressive and a great example for many. Quite how he has the time to do all the thinking outside of the box plus his day job I have no idea! "
anonymous audience member
Oct 24, 2017
Surgical Lies; disrupting medical publishing
Grand Rounds (Visiting Professor Lecture) Children's National Hospital, Washington DC, USA
"The presentation was nothing short of spectacular"
Kurt Newman MD, CEO, Children's National Hospital Washington DC, USA
Oct 22, 2017
Public Reporting and Regionalisation. 10 lessons form the UK for the US
Keynote Address; The Congenital Heart Surgeons Society (CHSS) in Chicago USA
"the talk was absolutely unbelievable. Everyone was glued. It was brilliant, eloquent, comprehensive, funny, provocative, educational … all in the right mix. Made me want to never speak in public again!"
Professor Luca Vricella, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, USA
Oct 11, 2017
opening your mind to how other industries work
Keynote Lecture, Exponent Private Equity, Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK
Most people work within their corporate silos and don't get to appreciate how things are being done in other organisations. I will show how much can be learned from surprising sources, and how we have improved safety and effectiveness in healthcare as a result.
'Martin Elliott was extremely well liked and well received, so in summary a big success!'
Simon Davidson, Exponent PE
Oct 10, 2017
Formula One May be Good for your Health
The Stokes Society Lecture, Pembroke College, Cambridge University
Oct 03, 2017
Teamwork during Times of Change
Keynote Lecture, Brewin Dolphin, London
Cardiac surgery has lived through several disruptive changes, and technology is making a further impact. Pressures from budget cuts, Brexit and organisational reform mean teams have to change and change the way they work. This lecture describes the lessons we have learned and what might be useful to others.
"Thank you so much for introducing us to Martin last week – he was such a success and everyone is still talking about him, it was just amazing…"
“Martin was amazing, great humour, incredibly deep and inspirational. “
Brewin Dolphin
Sep 26, 2017
Lateral Thinking to Improve Teamwork
Keynote Lecture, The Large Charities FInance Group
"thank you again for a fantastic presentation yesterday. The feedback on it was exceptional"
Rohan Hewavisenti, Imperial War Museum
Sep 14, 2017
Truth, Lies & the Trachea
The John Evans Lecture, The British Association of Paediatric Otolaryngology (BAPO), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
"It was one of the best lectures I seen delivered at any meeting, not just medical or ENT. It seems so obvious that we are setting the bar too low and that our research papers are simply summaries- but I think that is the first time I think it has ever been made so explicit. I thought it set the tone wonderfully..."
Steven Powell, FRCS BAPO organiser
Jul 16, 2017
1. Economics of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Care. Model 1:Total public funding free at the level of delivery. 2. Overview of Outcomes and Quality. 3. What the CEO wants from the Director of the Heart Center 4. What is value? 5. Doing more and better for less: Mission Impossible?
5 Invited Lectures, World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and cardiac Surgery, Barcelona, Spain
Jul 11, 2017
High Quality Performance; Great Teamwork. How do we get that in today's NHS?
Invited Lecture, Medway Hospital, Kent, UK
"Brilliant, Engaging, Inspiring"
James Devine, Executive Director of HR and OD
Jul 02, 2017
Learning from Our Mistakes
Keynote Lecture, ReaSoN Neonatal Conference, Warwick, UK
In this lecture, I explained basic theoretical points and indicated how a transparent approach to outcome reporting, in real time, can influence behaviour for the better, trading on our competitive instincts.
I also examined the negative consequences of blame, and discussed how organisations and units can encourage a just culture in which learning from error is the norm.
I used real examples where appropriate and suggested methods which will work in any speciality
75% of the audience rated the talk as 'excellent' and a further 18% as "good".
Jun 27, 2017
Learning from Other Industries; getting the best from your team
Keynote Lecture, Investment Advisors Conference, Hampshire, UK
Most business exist within a silo, preferring their own kind. This talk demonstrated, using examples, how even very different industries can improve if they open their minds to others.
"We have collaborated with Martin on several events now, and each time he has been an absolute pleasure to work with in both the run-up to the conference, and on the day itself. His material is thought-provoking, informative and insightful, and offers a previously unknown perspective for our delegates. Indeed, at our most recent conference Martin’s session was described by our attendees as “outstanding”, “marvellous”, “fascinating” and “exceptionally relevant”, to list just a few of the comments. Martin’s talk scored a hugely impressive 4.76 out of 5, making it one of the most popular and well-received presentations at any of our conferences over the years. We would thoroughly recommend Martin as an external speaker for any business audience – his message resonates with anyone striving for improvement on a personal or professional basis."
Katy Cole and Helen Wagstaff, Speakers in Partnership and Marketing in Partnership
Jun 20, 2017
"Do marginal gains have a place in healthcare?"
Keynote Lecture to Guy's, King's, at St Thomas' Cancer Network
"Your talk hit the perfect note giving a clear insight around what can be achieved with a focus on quality improvement and the importance of data to drive change. To hear it from a fellow clinician made it much more meaningful. Many of my colleagues were inspired and energised by your talk and I hope we can now build on that to drive forward our vision for a high quality cancer service. Once again many thanks for coming to talk to us"
Majid Kazmi
Chief of Cancer Services
Deputy Medical Director
Guys and St Thomas' NHS foundation Trust.
Jun 20, 2017
Keeping the Wealthy Alive; the ethics of survival at the extremes of age
Congenital Cardiac Nurses Association, Worcester, UK
A lecture considering the ethics and cost of reducing the age of viability of preterm foetuses, and the potential costs to society of artificially supporting patients with terminal heart failure.
Jun 13, 2017
Improving Workforce Planning and Utilisation of Medics
NHS Confederation, Liverpool UK
The potential application of software to facilitate the rostering of medics, and to optimise safety and productivity by getting the right people to the right place at the right time.
Jun 11, 2017
Stem Cell Tracheal Transplantation; reality or dream?
Invited Lecture, Harvard University -University College London Joint Meeting, London, UK
Tracheal transplantation remains very difficult. Many techniques have been tried, the most recent being stem-cell supported transplantation. This talk reviewed our experience, problems and potential solutions and speculates on what next.
"The surgery and ethics issues were complex, so it was great that you made it seem straightforward enough to inspire our mixed audience – fabulous."
Prof Paul Winyard
University College, London
May 23, 2017
Nice Work if You Can Get It; life as a paediatric cardiac surgeon
Gresham College Lecture, Museum of London, UK
An autobiographical homage to a fascinating and fulfilling occupation. It will also consider how the job has changed over my lifetime, and particularly what might be needed in the future
May 15, 2017
Changing the Way we Publish Surgical Papers; avoiding the lies
Keynote Lecture, Ospedale Bambino Gesu, Rome, Italy
A lecture reporting recent examples of fraudulent reporting of surgical results, the implications of such action and suggesting ways in which the profession can both prevent such things and improve the overall quality of our data.
May 14, 2017
How teams work, How healthcare is funded and the ROI from Innovation
Philips International Salesforce Meeting, Rome, Italy
"During our 2017 sales force training Prof Elliott has first of all amazed our Philips sales team by the story about the work he did with other industries, especially the Formula 1 teams.
Secondly with his inspiring talk full of tangible examples, humor and to the point topics for our audience, he triggered new ideas and inspired the teams to think beyond our standard products and services.
He is one of the most engaging speakers in the medical world that I have seen."
Bas van Breugel
Director Sales and Marketing
Philips Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions
May 02, 2017
Using Data to Drive Patient Safety
Association of Surgeons of GB & Ireland, Glasgow, Scotland
It is hard to improve if you don't have a way of measuring that improvement. Medics are quite competitive, and finding clear and relevant forms of data presentation motivates them to do things better. This talk will describe some of those methods and use examples to demonstrate how the transparent use of of data changes behaviour.
Apr 24, 2017
Learning from Other Industries; getting the best from your team
Keynote Presentation, Joint Investment Conference, Hampshire, UK
Apr 23, 2017
Teamwork, Culture and the Importance of Data
Keynote Lecture for Webinar by MSD and Wave Pharmaceuticals, London, UK
"Martin was a pleasure to work with, professional, flexible and happy to operate within the regulatory constraints of the pharma industry. His medical experience, media training and the knowledge he brought with him, ranging from Formula 1 and big data to teamwork and leadership, made him an excellent partner for the project."
MSD
Apr 05, 2017
Working as a Team
Keynote Lecture, 1st International Meeting of the Pediatric Airway Teams, Genova, Italy
"Enlightening and Inspiring"
Profs Michele Torre, Genoa and Sergio Bottero, Rome
Mar 26, 2017
La Formula1 potrebbe fare bene alla tua salute!
Public Lecture, Mirandola, Italy
"Fantastic Presentation"
Andrea Menghini, on behalf of Mirandola Lions Club, Kiwanis International and Rotary International
Mar 15, 2017
I won't have blood; a battle between belief and duty
Gresham College Lecture
Most open-heart surgery in children requires the use of donor blood. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe, on the basis of biblical texts, that blood should not be ingested or transfused. There is thus a tension between clinical teams and devout families. This lecture explores that tension, and considers how we might perform open-heart surgery without blood.
Feb 28, 2017
Leading Change in Times of Uncertainty. (Keynote Speech)
MHRA Annual Managers Conference, London, UK
" 94% of the audience found the talk useful, and 76% said they would be applying the learning back at work. This is some of the highest speaker feedback we have ever had. They liked the style, and the mix of humour and serious content".
Paul Inglefield, Dep Director Corporate Communications, MHRA
Jan 01, 2020
Innovation, Leadership and Culture in the NHS; what surgeons really think. (Keynote Speech)
FSD Annual Finance Conference; whole system working. Newmarket Racecourse, Newmarket, UK. For NHS Health Education England.
"Engaging, inspiring and a delight"
"Inspiring, intersting and full of useful experiences which we may be able to replicate or learn from to drive changes."
"There best speech of the day. Excellent, amazing and inspiring. Very clear presentation addressing the themes of innovation, leadership and culture. Very glad and grateful I had the opportunity to hear Professor Martin Elliott"
audience members comments
Feb 14, 2017
Affairs of the Heart; the symbolism of the heart in art
Gresham College Lecture (with Dr Valerie Shrimplin)
A celebration of the heart for St Valentine’s Day. How is it that a simple pump has become a symbol of the highest human emotions of love, truth, conscience and moral courage? How have artists represented this over the centuries? And how effective have those representations been?
Jan 18, 2017
Sudden Death in the Young; A terrible waste
Gresham College Lecture
A lecture about Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy and Sudden Cardiac Death. The lecture follows the death of my own son, Toby, from SUDEP and after reviewing the subject, calls for an integrated and uniform approach to the investigation of sudden death. Follow up articles in the British Medical Journal, the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail.
Dec 10, 2016
Heart Surgery for Congenital Heart Defects; based on Science or Fiction?
SKMC Conference 2016 AbuDhabi
'two outstanding, entertaining and fascinating contributions by Professor Elliott" Prof Laszlo Kiraly, Abu Dhabi
Dec 10, 2016
Tracheal Stenosis in Children
SKMC Conference 2016, Abu Dhabi
Dec 05, 2016
Life as a cardiac surgeon
Masterclass, Camden School for Girls, London
"A huge thank you to the fantastic Prof Martin Elliott...incredible work"
Emma Perry, Head of Science
Dec 01, 2016
Tracheal Stenosis in Children; management and research horizons
Visiting Professor Lecture, University of Belgrade, Serbia
"One of the best lectures I have ever heard"
Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Nov 09, 2016
Formula 1 may be good for your health
The Guy Fawkes Lecture 2016, St Peter's School, York, UK
"To witness a truly inspiring delivery of how one man’s defiance to accept nothing but the best of himself, to push the boundaries of his own understanding and the productivity of the people around him, really was quite incredible. I believe I speak on behalf of both St Peter’s and the members of the York community that came to see Professor Elliott when I say it was a distinct privilege to have him deliver his talk"
Charles Dunn, Student
Wow! I’m a non-scientist who’s heard dozens of science lectures as part of our programme - Prof Elliott’s stands out as the most engaging of all of them. Martin has a great story to tell from his time at Great Ormond Street and tells it brilliantly. His lecture captivated everyone from school children to university scientists. He outlined what his heart surgery team had learnt from F1, with total command of his subject matter and plenty of analogies, visuals and jokes to maintain attention. There was a great buzz of discussion afterwards - and what an example of two apparently diverse industries learning from each other! F1 technology clearly IS good for the health of child heart patients.
Ben Fuller, Head of Government & Politics, St Peter's School, York
Nov 09, 2016
Responding to rapid change
Alinea Consulting, City Hall, London
The Fighter Pilot and The Surgeon
Joint Presentation and discussion with Mandy Hickson
Nov 08, 2016
Keynote Address, Werfen Life, Barcelona
"The session went extremely well and feedback certainly points in this direction. What was most appreciated was the fact that you were a scientist, medical practitioner and a manager; not the typical academia person who has no business experience lecturing theory to a room of experienced business people. They loved your inter industry experience and the fact that you had exchanged best practices with what could have seemed like very opposite fields."
Lucia Del Moral, Head of HR, WerfenLife, Barcelona
Oct 18, 2016
Friends of Adeona, Dartmouth House, London
Joint Presentation with Matthew Syed
Matthew & Martin - your presentation / performance was incredibly interesting, engaging and lots of fun. I doubt our guests will have seen anything quite like it before, which is exactly what we wanted. We’ve certainly had great feedback from donors and staff alike which will be hard to match next year.
Rachel Hughes, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
Oct 13, 2016
The Ethics of Innovation; the need for transparency
iMed 08, International Medical Student's Conference, Lisbon, Portugal
I will argue that the data associated with innovation, especially in surgery, are 'owned' by the wrong people. Peer review should start with the dataset, and data collection should be mandatory and the output analysable by others.
Oct 12, 2016
Closing Keynote
Annual Hotel Conference, Manchester, UK
"Rare is the conference speaker who truly inspires, motivates and delights, yet moves you to the extent that you feel it a great privilege to have been in the audience. Martin is that rarity and combines his brilliance with a humility and wit which makes his message all the more powerful and engaging."
Jonathan Langston, Co-Founder The Annual Hotel Conference
Sep 21, 2016
Does National Audit really help our patients?
Augis 2016, Leeds, UK
@Trisha_the_doc @profmjelliott gave outstanding talk on outcome reporting at #AUGIS in Sept. Convinced me!
Sep 07, 2016
Blame, Accountability and Transparency
Banking Standards Board Breakfast Presentation, Morgan Stanley, Canary Wharf, London
"a riveting talk following by an excellent discussion; very worthwhile attending.....most inspiring and much to take back to our organisations"
Peter Massey-Cook
Head of Ethics, EMEA