Dr. Grant Ingrams is a British general practitioner, health care leader, and clinical informatics expert whose career has been defined by his dedication to improving patient care and strengthening the systems that support the National Health Service (NHS). With over three decades of experience in both clinical practice and strategic leadership, Dr. Grant Ingrams has built a legacy of service that combines hands-on medicine, health policy, and digital transformation within primary care.
Dr. Grant Ingrams achieved Bachelor Degrees in Medicine and Surgery with Honours in Anatomy from the University of Birmingham.
He began his medical career as a house physician at East Birmingham Hospital and a house surgeon at Kidderminster General Hospital, gaining experience in cardiology, haematology, general medicine, and general surgery. His early years in practice were marked by versatility, with appointments across general practice, public health, and medical advisory roles.
His work as an informatician has been recognised by the award of Fellowship of the Faculty of Clinical Informaticians and Fellowship of the British Computer Society.
Grant has taken partial retirement to enable him to act as carer for his disabled wife. He is currently the managing partner at Oakmeadow Surgery, where he is responsible for overall management of the practice and works as a clinician one day a week. In addition, for two days a week, he is Chief Executive Officer of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Local Medical Committee Ltd providing leadership and support for 700 general medical practitioners and 126 general practices. His ability to balance clinical insight with management expertise has earned him the trust and respect of colleagues nationwide.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Monday is my clinical day working as a general medical practice. After waking up at 6:30, I will spend half an hour catching up with urgent emails and messages that have arrived overnight. I arrived at Oakmeadow Surgery at around 8:30 am. Most weeks, I am the duty doctor, not only reviewing my long-term patients, but seeing same-day urgent problems and responding to letters, results and concerns raised by other organisations about our patients. If not on duty, I will normally spend half the day giving up to 25 joint and other soft-tissue injections for pain relief and improving patients’ functionality.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I work as chief executive of LLLR LMC Ltd. This involves supporting and advising practices and liaising with the commissioning body, local hospital, community services and local authorities. This is mainly by up to 14 online meetings each day, but also with some face-to-face meetings.
The remainder of the week is taken up by my most important role—being the main carer for my disabled wife—although peppered with keeping up with hangover LMC and practice work.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I moved to my current practice in 2016 knowing that it needed a lot of input to rejuvenate and modernise services. We formed a great team and together have implemented many improvements and developments.
I am lucky to also have a supportive and effective LMC management team and board. Together, we have been through a journey, making significant changes to governance and widening board membership to better reflect the GPs and practices we represent. This has enabled the LMC to become more efficient and effective, increasing the services and support for our constituents.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Throughout my career, I have been involved in developments in information technology to support healthcare. From developing websites within the first couple of years of the world wide web, supporting development and standards of GP clinical systems, being part of the team that led to NHS mail as the largest single messaging service worldwide, being member of the board that commenced the huge task of developing the NHS patient-facing health information database to trialling a live online clinical consultation tool at my practice.
I am looking forward to the next step of developing artificial intelligence to improve patient care and improve healthcare efficiency.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
The best habit is to make sure that you work with excellent people who share your vision and can work collaboratively to deliver your goals.
What advice would you give your younger self?
The only advice I would have would be not to put work above homelife and to prioritise supporting your children, attending assemblies, plays and parents evenings. You can never go back and do these again.
Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I believe that a National Health Service funded through general taxation, free at the point of delivery, and mainly delivered by holistic partner-led general practice will continue to provide the highest quality, most equitable and most cost-effective healthcare.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Recently, I have returned to exercising on a regularly basis, having let work squeeze this out of my routine many years ago. This has led to better energy levels, improved fitness and improved self-esteem.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
My best techniques are listening to classical music, or exercise or a combination of both. When the weather allows, I also find pottering in my garden to be very relaxing.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
The tip I give to junior colleagues is to always be inquisitive. Constantly ask questions of yourself and others. Never stop asking why something is done the way it is, using Toyoda’s 5 whys technique.
I also always inject humour into work. Whether talking to a large conference, a small team or a formal board, a little humour can break barriers, help refocus, and improve ability to get your views across.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Two decades ago, I allowed my workload to get out of hand, leading to burn out and making mistakes. I took some time out, listened to the wise counsel of friends and colleagues and learned how to say no to requests and stick to it.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
My best recent investment was on a double laptop screen extender, which allows me to “set up shop” and get work done effectively wherever I find myself!
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I regularly use quotes from both serious and light-hearted literature in my work. At present, I have been majoring on quotes by Professor Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books. The one novella that I have returned to re-read over and over again is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. This is a dark book and examines the themes of racism, power dynamics and morality. It’s relevance to current business practices and politics is not hard to understand.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Having watched the films with my children when they first came out, I am now rewatching the whole series bit-by-bit when exercising. I have also recently started introducing my oldest grandson to the original Star War films.
Key learnings
- Always prioritise family life over work—no-one ever retired wishing they had spent more time at work.
- Inject humour into everything you do.
- Learn how to say no and mean it.
- Find time to relax.
- Have a quotation for everything—it saves original thinking.