Why communication is the missing piece in healthcare reform

In this edition of the Business Insights Series, we sat down with Lynn Furber, a former nurse turned educator, researcher, and founder of Healthcare Communication Matters. Lynn spent over 25 years in the NHS, primarily in cancer services, before pivoting into academia and ultimately starting her own company. Her mission? To empower healthcare professionals with the communication tools they need to deliver truly person-centered care.

What followed was a fascinating discussion about purpose, emotional resilience, impostor syndrome, and the quiet power of conversations that change lives, both for patients and the professionals who care for them. We explored how Lynn built a business rooted in impact, not income, and why communication training might just be the linchpin of healthcare reform.

From Nurse to Entrepreneur: The Turning Point

Lynn’s journey didn’t follow a typical trajectory. After decades in clinical work, she transitioned into cancer research and eventually academia. But it was a jarring health scare, being mistakenly told she might be dying, that truly forced her to stop, reflect, and question everything.

“I spent the day with a life coach… and the first thing that I wrote down was ‘take a leap of faith,'” she told me.

For two weeks, Lynn sat with the question: “Am I making a difference?” Her answer was a painful but clear “No.” That realization, paired with her dissatisfaction over organizational values that didn’t match her own, ignited a bold move.

She launched Healthcare Communication Matters within three months of that turning point. Still, like many new entrepreneurs, she faced uncertainty. Initially, her ideas were scattered across a wide field, everything from consultancy to academic partnerships.

“Somebody said to me, you don’t have to be governed by public sector policy etc anymore, you can do what the hell you like. So that was actually a liberating thought to start with, but then I realised it wasn’t.”

She admitted that this freedom nearly became a trap. Without constraints, her vision became cloudy. So she turned to data, not just market data, but self-knowledge. A strengths-finder test helped her reconnect with the values that had always driven her: empathy, meaningful relationships, and learning.

“I realised it wasn’t taking me to a way of making a difference… and all my five key strengths aligned with what I’d been doing before or it was about empathy, was about developing relationships, it was about supporting the learning and development of other people and having that responsibility.”

She realized she didn’t need to explore every possible option, just the ones that truly aligned with her values and strengths. Focusing on what felt most meaningful helped her cut through the noise and find her path.

The Real Impact of Communication Training

Many assume that communication training is soft or secondary. Lynn’s work proves otherwise. Her sessions are deeply transformative, even cathartic, offering something far beyond professional development, they serve as emotional lifelines.

A 2021 study featured in PMC found that healthcare professionals who received communication training became much more patient-centered during their consultations, and here’s the kicker, it didn’t make their appointments any longer. This lines up perfectly with what Lynn sees in her work: You don’t need extra time to communicate better, but better tools and the confidence to use them.

“This morning I felt like a really proud parent listening to the feedback of three nurses who worked in cancer services and that the course had been really transformational not only to their clinical practice but to their family life as well.”

Participants have described the training as life-changing, not just because of what they learn but because of how they feel. The transformation is visible. Healthcare professionals start the course burdened by stress, fear, or self-doubt, and often leave lighter, more grounded, and more connected to their purpose.

“Some of them have got PTSD… they are dealing with so much stress on a daily basis.”

One nurse brought a real-world challenge: navigating a conversation with a terminally ill patient who was also a close friend of a colleague. The emotional weight in the room was palpable, so much so that Lynn had to sit on the floor beside the actor and the nurse to help facilitate. The silence, the tension, the vulnerability, it was intense. And it mattered.

What Lynn offers goes far beyond typical workshops. These sessions become safe spaces where reflection, healing, and meaningful growth are not only encouraged, they’re expected. As one nurse reported, a previously distant consultant asked her, “How are you after that death?… How were YOU?”, opening the door to a more human connection.

This is the real power of Lynn’s work, It does more than just train professionals; it fosters reconnection. It bridges the emotional divide that often exists in clinical settings and fosters a culture of compassion, courage, and care.

How Role Play Heals Real Pain

One of the most unique aspects of Lynn’s approach is her use of role play. Not the awkward, performative kind you may remember from corporate training, but a method grounded in real stories, emotional honesty, and psychological safety.

“We work on the model that they’re themselves, they’re not acting, just being their authentic self. We have an actor who will take on the character that they want to take, and it’s up to the learner what they want to apply.”

Each participant brings a real clinical challenge, often one that has stayed with them for years. These moments are not simulations; they are reenactments of emotional truths. With the help of a trained actor, participants navigate the conversation as it happened, often feeling the full emotional weight of the moment. Then, they explore how it could have gone differently. They pause. They reflect. They revise.

In one example, two consultants who had received complaints from patients revisited those scenarios during the course. The sessions allowed them to process guilt and confusion, and reapproach the conversation with empathy and better tools. These reenactments help rebuild confidence and emotional resilience, especially in high-pressure environments like oncology and palliative care.

“It can be a really cathartic experience. We keep stopping and starting ‘how’s it going for you, what are you feeling right now, what are the group observing?’ And yes, the course is still very much evidence-based.”

This approach evolved from a UK Department of Health initiative called “Connected,” originally a three-day advanced communication course rolled out nationally. Lynn was one of its facilitators. After the funding ended, she adapted the most impactful elements, especially the actor-supported roleplay, into her own version. She intentionally removed video recording, as it increased participant anxiety. Her focus: build empathy, not stress.

In the hands of someone with Lynn’s clinical and academic background, this method becomes more than training. It becomes healing. It helps healthcare professionals carry less emotional residue from their work, and sometimes, lay down burdens they’ve held for far too long.

Fighting Impostor Syndrome While Standing Out

Despite her years of experience and the tangible impact of her work, Lynn still battles self-doubt. It’s a feeling many entrepreneurs and educators can relate to, the internal friction between quiet confidence and the fear of sounding self-congratulatory.

“I put a LinkedIn post together today… but I didn’t want it to come across like I was trying to sell myself.”

For Lynn, every social post is a tightrope walk. On one side, she wants to celebrate the breakthroughs happening in her training sessions. On the other, she’s deeply committed to authenticity and recoils at the idea of ‘hard-selling’ something so personal and human.

Her business isn’t backed by a big university or a medical school. She runs a small not-for-profit, often competing with much larger institutions with bigger budgets, louder voices, and extensive networks.

“I’m quite a small fish in the pond… but actually, I think what I bring is that I’m a clinician, I’ve got over 25 years of experience as a nurse.”

But here’s the twist: being a small fish gives her agility. It allows her to create an environment of deep care, personalization, and reflection that larger institutions can’t always replicate. And that’s where her magic lies. She brings a level of presence to her work that stems from being not just a clinician or teacher, but someone who has lived every layer of the healthcare ecosystem.

“Trust in the process because you know that this works. Trust in the process and that will get you through.”

Lynn’s mantra isn’t just for her clients but for herself. And every time a participant walks away transformed, she’s reminded that yes, the work matters. And yes, the voice deserves to be heard.

From Ghosting to Genuine Connection

We ended our conversation reflecting on the nature of outreach, rejection, and the importance of kindness in communication, not just in healthcare, but in business too. For Lynn, building relationships is about staying true to her values. She doesn’t view them as transactions or tactics, but as opportunities to connect on a human level. Her approach is guided by alignment, authenticity, and mutual respect rather than digital trends or algorithms.

“I think that approach worked for me because you were coming at it from the angle of trying to create stories and that kind of thing was what made me go okay, have a conversation.”

That’s what drew her to our conversation in the first place. Not a sales pitch. Not a product plug. Just a shared intention to listen, understand, and share. It’s the same ethos that guides her own outreach.

Having had unpleasant experiences on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, ranging from data breaches to unkind political trolling, Lynn made the deliberate choice to focus on LinkedIn. There, she prioritizes substance over visibility. Her content centers around connection, not conversion.

“My business has grown organically and through referrals… somebody recommended me to another organisation.”

Instead of hustling for every chance, she prioritizes building solid, dependable connections. Clients find her through word of mouth, former colleagues, and mutual respect. It’s slower, yes, but it’s steadier. And in a saturated market, it’s the one strategy that never burns out.

Now, she’s embracing a new phase of growth. She’s working behind the scenes on her website, sharpening her messaging, and exploring SEO, not to be loud, but to be clear. To make sure her story is not only heard, but understood.

Because in Lynn’s world, communication is less about polished words and more about emotional impact, how we make others feel in the moment. And the right message, spoken from the heart, finds its way to the right ears.

Conclusion: The Heart of Healthcare Is Human

Lynn’s story is a reminder that business doesn’t have to be impersonal. It doesn’t need to be about scale, virality, or chasing metrics. The best businesses, the ones that leave a lasting legacy, are built on empathy, clarity of purpose, and a willingness to serve. Lynn didn’t just build a business. She built a safe space, a transformative experience, and a ripple effect that extends far beyond the healthcare sector.

Her work is changing not just how healthcare professionals communicate, but how they see themselves, their colleagues, and the patients they serve. It’s helping them rediscover their human core in systems that often ask them to suppress it. That’s a revolution in slow motion, and it’s what real impact looks like.

If you’re building something that matters, remember this: impact often grows quietly. It whispers in the tearful thanks of a nurse, the silence of a cathartic role play, the shift in a consultant’s tone. It’s the kind of change you can’t always quantify, but you can definitely feel. It doesn’t need to shout. It just needs to resonate.