How To Hack The NHS is a healthcare podcast with a focus on general practice. The show is presented by General Practice Business Manager Bex Cottey and GP, Dr Tano Rebora. It is recorded and produced by Dr David Coleman.
Bex Cottey
Bex is Barnsley born and bred, but went to University in Salford, Loughborough, and Leicester. She lived in Austria for 13 years before returning to Yorkshire.
Having an eclectic career, from teaching to running a GP practice via tree surgery, landscaping, and steel manufacturing, Bex is as passionate about the NHS, and general practice in particular, as anyone can get. She works in a practice on the outskirts of Doncaster with Tano and David, along with 4 other partners. She’s only worked in the NHS since 2019, cutting her teeth just before the pandemic hit. This caused her to work full throttle to keep on top of the business in a tumultuous time.
She brings some cheekiness, crazy ideas, and a lot of questions to everything she does, while committing herself in an ‘all or nothing kind of way’ to pretty much everything in her life. She embraces (loves) change, trying new things and pushing others to have a ‘give it a go’ attitude. She’s never happier than bouncing ideas off her colleagues and pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved.
She is married, has an old dog, and in her spare time lifts weights, tries to play golf, dabbles in crafts and sewing, and loves the UK countryside.
Dr Tano Rebora
Tano came to God’s own country of South Yorkshire 20 years ago, having lived in London for his first 18 years of life and bounced from Newcastle to Sheffield to study medicine and qualify as a doctor. His involvement with the NHS started at medical school two decades ago and he has worked in a variety of hospitals and GP surgeries in the region.
Tano wasn’t always going to be a doctor, spending much of his youth exploring the world of music and drama. However, at the age of 14, Tano realised that you needed talent to pursue that career and decided to try and help people instead. Since then, he hasn’t looked back…. well, not too often in any case.
Tano brings a wicked sense of humour, enthusiasm, and energy to the practice, combined with a passion to teach anyone who is happy to listen (or stands still long enough). Painfully pragmatic and relentlessly optimistic, he is tolerated well by those he works with.
Tano is married to the love of his life (a fellow GP), has 2 wonderful children, a playful labrador and a suitably dirty car. When not working or parenting, he can be found walking the dog / nose-deep in a book (or by the fridge).
Dr David Coleman
David is a GP in South Yorkshire at the same practice as Tano and Bex. He has been working as a doctor in South Yorkshire for 19 years, which means he is either at his peak or at the point where cynicism starts to set in. David is a PCN Clinical Director, GP trainer, and writes regularly for a range of healthcare publications. Away from the workplace, David is passionate about music and hosts his own podcast called Quarantine the Past. He is a keen/slightly obsessive cyclist and claims to enjoy watching Sheffield United, although this season has tested his patience somewhat. He lives in Sheffield with his wife, two children, and a dachshund.