From the frontline of nursing to COO in Dubai

Being committed, compassionate and resourceful have all helped Kirsty Graham EMBA2023 along her career path. But if there is one thing that has been crucial in her journey, it’s her ability to recognise an exciting opportunity when it comes along, and to seize it. It’s something that has seen her leave a high-profile role on one side of the world, to take her chances in an unknown territory.

The story begins in a small town called Falkirk, between Glasgow and Edinburgh, where Kirsty grew up in a family from generations of coal miners. She became the first in her family to go to university, which led to her first job as a staff nurse in a cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU). “I loved it,” she recalls. “I liked the technical aspect of it, the extra knowledge you have to have, the complexity of it.”

A few years later, while working as a charge nurse at the NHS Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow, she pioneered her first role in project management.

“I’d read about evidence-based research called Enhanced Recovery that wasn’t being applied in the hospital I was working in, or in any other hospital in Scotland,” she says. “Through this program, we could improve patient recovery time after surgery and reduce postoperative complications. It also meant we would spend less because the patients recovered faster.”

“I discussed it with my leadership team and shared my passion to launch this program as a pilot. I was able to convince them, and we agreed that if I could get a couple of doctors on board, then I should go ahead,” explained Kirsty.

The scheme was a success, and was soon rolled out to other surgical specialities in the hospital. Kirsty took on more project management roles, along with NHS projects across the country. During this time she also completed a master’s degree in advanced clinical practice. Then, when a friend told her about an exciting possibility in Dubai, where King’s College London was opening a brand-new hospital, it was a no-brainer.

A new life in Dubai

“In the UK, it’s not often you get to be at ground level with a new hospital,” she says. “To be there, to see things evolve, and make the decisions right from the start. That was the catalyst for me, doing something I’d never experienced before”.

“I applied and in January 2018…before you knew it, I was flying out to Dubai to start a new life.”

Not only a new life, but a transition from the NHS to private healthcare, which is predominant in Dubai where there are only a handful of government hospitals. Her first job in Dubai was as a matron for the critical care unit.

“Yes, a very old-fashioned term!” says Kirsty, “but essentially we were ward managers. As the hospital evolved, I took on neonatal intensive care [NICU], and then the operations theatre. Soon, I had four departments under me: NICU, ICU, theatre and emergency. The role soon evolved into operations and management, and I wasn’t spending as much time directly on the frontline care.”

Then Covid struck, and Kirsty was also back on the frontline care. When things calmed down, Kirsty returned to her regular job of running four departments. But frustration was starting to set in.

“I was empowered to make a difference,” Kirsty says, “but there was only so much difference I could make. You see decisions being made at C-level, and think, maybe naively,
‘I could do that better.’ My aspiration was always to get into a C-level role. It was becoming clear that education would help me reach the next stage.”

The 30% Club Scholarship

Kirsty applied for London Business School’s Executive MBA (EMBA) programme and was successful not only in gaining admittance but securing the School’s 30% Club Scholarship, an award specifically designed to financially assist female students with a proven track record of success and leadership potential.

“It seemed to fit my profile and background,” she says. “I was lucky to get the scholarship. It took some of the financial burden off. I was really grateful.”

For the first year of the EMBA, Kirsty took the core courses every Friday and Saturday at the Dubai campus; working at the hospital on the other days. For her second, elective year, she took six separate block weeks at LBS’s London campus. Here the focus was on management, people and entrepreneurship. She also did a global assignment in Tel Aviv (“that was super-interesting”).

As well as filling in the gaps in her knowledge, Kirsty says her biggest takeaway from the EMBA was the people she met.

“I’ve met so many people from so many different cultures, so many senior leaders,” she says. “The network is great. These are people you can reach out to for advice; they are so generous with their help. Hanging out with people who are challenging you, pushing you to your boundaries, helps take you to the next level.”

One of her EMBA cohort did exactly that. A month after graduating, and now Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, she went to an EMBA networking event and started chatting to a former classmate who was now group vice-CEO at the Canadian Specialist Hospital in Dubai. He told Kirsty the hospital was looking to transform the management, the revenue and operations, and was looking for a leader with a strong profile to deliver on the hospital’s ambitions.

“I said, ‘If you want, I can do a bit of consultation for you,’” recalls Kirsty. “He said, ‘I don’t need someone to do a consultation. I need someone to help me run the place. Would you be interested?’ I said yes.”

The decision maker

Six months later, Kirsty started as COO at the Canadian Specialist Hospital. The appointment turned out to be exactly what she was looking for: something that needed to be fixed, that she could influence.

“I started the job with clinical experience, and a broad robust spectrum to understand business,” she says. “The EMBA has given me a clear advantage. Each week we have a revenue and budget meeting, and a cashflow meeting. Now I know the right questions to ask, the vocabulary to use – how to implement changes. I understand the big picture very easily. When the profit and loss sits on your head and you are the decision-maker, that’s crucial.”

Meanwhile, she has two other projects on the go: a hospital renovation and expansion and opening the hospital’s first shopping mall clinic.

“We have a lot of good doctors who have been with us for 15 plus years, and we want to take that brand of Canadian to new communities. It will feel more like your local GP surgery. So we’re building our first clinic, in our core demographic area. Quite a few of our competitors already have multiple clinics and it’s a good model because patients often don't want the inconvenience of driving all the way to the hospital.”

“I said I wanted the autonomy to make decisions and drive the progress of the organisation. Thinking big and long-term requires you to have the runway to experiment and make decisions.”

Paying it forward

When Kirsty was working at Glasgow’s Golden Jubilee Hospital, all the senior leaders were female – role models that made it a great environment to work in. Does she see herself as paying it forward?

“Yes. When I first came to Dubai, I hired the nursing team, most of whom were female. I was able to cultivate their development. I saw them get promoted and become leaders. They were a diverse mix – Indian, Filipino, Bangladesh, Pakistani, European, Arabic – from very different educational backgrounds. Being able to bring through that next generation of nurses, to have had any hand in their development, is something I’m really proud of.”

Dubai, meanwhile, is losing none of its appeal – “It’s not all bling, malls and expensive cars,” she says. The foodie scene, great hiking, beautiful lakes and cycle tracks in the desert all make for a good work-life balance.

“I’m still loving it,” says Kirsty. “It’s dynamic, it’s fast-paced. The thing about Dubai is, it takes the best from whatever is around the world and implement it quickly. You come here and see a lot of progression, people of all ages and backgrounds get the opportunity to be in senior roles because there is just so much opportunity here”.

Does she see herself working in other countries? “This feels like home now, so no plans, but never say never.”