Our Story
The NHS is changing. Whether we like it or not, we are operating in a different landscape to the one that existed 25, 10 or even 3 years ago.
The bar has been raised, and all GP Practice and Hospital staff, whether they are Doctors, Nurses, Managers or Receptionists, are expected to upskill in order to jump over that higher bar. What's more, they are expected to do it with ease.
Visionary Leaders within the NHS are proactively investing in supporting the development of local services. Yet, everyone is operating under financial constraints. The writing on the wall is clear, and has been for some time now. We need to move with the times, innovate, grow and develop as individuals, as teams and as organisations.
The time to actively invest in the development of your organisation is now!
Healthcare Leadership Systems (HLS) and its specialist HR division - Peaceful HR, came out of a passion to make the NHS the best that it can be.
With over 25 years of experience of working with, leading and managing GP practices Susan Paul has set up a niche consultancy that specialises in supporting leaders within the health sector.
Susan and her partners in the First 4 Health Group, run GP practices operating over multiple sites employing over 150 staff, serving over 50,000 patients in East London.
All of the practices within the First 4 Health Group heavily invest in the growth and development of their staff by focusing on their training and education. All of the practices within the First 4 Health Group are GP Training Practices.
The GP Training Practices and ancillary organisations have been nominated for various awards, including:
Back in 2010 E12 Health won the HSJ Healthcare 100 award being ranked the 24th best healthcare organisation (across all categories) to work for in the UK, and we have continued to grow and develop our people to be role models and examples of what is possible when you continually work on yourself and develop your skills so that you can work effectively as part of a dynamic team.
In April 2018 First 4 Health Group - Church Road Health was rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as being outstanding in the 'Well Led' Category.
In 2019, it was nominated for a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Value Award.
In 2024 was nominated for the Digital Innovation Award at the annual General Practice Awards.
Healthtech1 - the First 4 Health Group has supported innovation in the NHS by working with NHS IT innovators healthtech1 . They were received the Digital solutions Provider of the Year award for 2 successive years at the 2024 and 2025 General Practice Awards.
We have a network of healthcare professionals and healthcare managers supporting the NHS to be the extraordinary institution that it is.
Founder
Susan Paul
Susan Paul is an Employment Law Specialist Solicitor with over 30 years of management and legal experience. She currently works as a Partner with the London Firm of Spencer - West. She was an Employment Law Judge for over 5 years. As an ex-litigator, former Judge, CEDR trained Mediator and AoEC- trained Executive Leadership Coach & Mentor she has the skill, knowledge and motivation to support both Legal firms and NHS leaders, medical partnerships, entrepreneurs and their leadership teams to operate successful organisations.
Susan has grown and supported GP practices for over 25 years and specialises in supporting Senior Leaders to successfully manage their careers and to develop the leadership potential of their existing staff teams. Her teams provide active management support to health organisations.
As a founding partner, and CEO, she has strategically developed the First 4 Health Group from a single practice with 2,000 patients and 5 staff to 50,000+ patients across multiple sites employing 150+ staff. In order to manage the problems she faced operating multiple sites in a highly regulated sector, with constantly changing CQC and KPI requirements, she is constantly developing management solutions to reduce quality variation across their sites. Her unique skill set has enabled the organisation to expand seamlessly and take on the management of new sites at short notice.
Susan is a Leader In Residence and was a member of the Advisory Board to the Management Division of the Leeds University Business School for over 10 years.
She is a recipient of Leeds University Vice Chancellor's Leadership Award, and in 2024 she was voted Leader in Residence of the Year.
She works with Dr Bhupinder Kohli, an experienced GP Leader and trainer with an interest in primary care IT, informatics and health intelligence. He is the Group Medical Director of the First 4 Health Group.
Our Team
All of our Staff and Consultants have a significant number of years of experience working in the NHS and other sectors. They passionately believe in the NHS and want to see the people who work in it fully supported to deliver consistently excellent standards of care to all patients.
