Building Internal Governance: Duncan Astill On Healthcare Safety Beyond External Regulation

Welcome to The Connection: Where Tech Meets Humanity in Healthcare podcast, brought to you by RLDatix. In this live episode from the Connected Health and Care Summit 2025, Liz Jones and Darren Kilroy are joined by Duncan Astill, Partner in Regulatory, Public and Commercial Disputes at Mills & Reeve. Duncan shares insights from over 20 years representing healthcare organisations, discussing why trusts must own their safety data, how healthcare can learn from other industries' approach to risk management, and why blame culture continues to undermine patient safety. 👉 At RLDatix, we understand that health and care is a complex landscape where technology must work hand-in-hand with human expertise. In our podcast, we explore how our commitment to safety and operational efficiency can improve the daily experiences of health and care professionals while keeping patient safety at the core of everything we do. 🎉 To find out more, visit rldatix.com 🏥

Welcome to The Connection: Where Tech Meets Humanity in Healthcare podcast, brought to you by RLDatix. In this compelling live episode from the Connected Health and Care Summit 2025, Liz Jones and Darren Kilroy are joined by Duncan Astill, Partner in Regulatory, Public and Commercial Disputes at Mills & Reeve with over two decades of experience in healthcare law. Duncan's journey began unexpectedly in 1994 when a summer job pulling medical records led to his first inquest, setting him on a career path that would see him attend hundreds of inquests and develop unique insights into patient safety.

What You'll Learn:

Why healthcare organisations cannot rely on external regulators to tell them what's going on
How healthcare's focus on incident review differs from other industries' proactive risk prevention
The fundamental difference between clinical risk management and health and safety methodology
Why governance processes often become about paperwork rather than genuine safety improvement
How risk scoring systems can distract from the real work of controlling hazards
The role of blame culture in undermining learning and system improvement
Why most errors are system failures rather than individual failings
The importance of documentation in clinical practice and litigation defence
How maternity services exemplify persistent cultural challenges between professional groups

Duncan Astill works at Mills & Reeve, where he has built extensive experience in healthcare regulation, inquests, clinical negligence, and health and safety law. His cross-industry perspective, including work with builders' merchants and other sectors, provides unique insights into how healthcare could better approach risk management and safety culture.

👉 At RLDatix, we understand that health and care is a complex landscape where technology must work hand-in-hand with human expertise. In our podcast, we explore how our commitment to safety and operational efficiency can improve the daily experiences of health and care professionals while keeping patient safety at the core of everything we do. 🎉

To find out more, visit rldatix.com 🏥

Episode Resources

Duncan Astill on LinkedIn
Mills & Reeve Website
Liz Jones on Linkedin
Darren Kilroy on LinkedIn
RLDatix Website