Medi-Culture Conversations

Medi-Culture Conversations

Series 2 Episode 6: Shirley Mullings & Gabi Salmon

Host: Ilsa Jones

Medi-Culture Conversations is the official podcast of the Medi-Culture Festival, celebrating health, science and wellbeing in the heart of London Bridge this Autumn. Across a series of short episodes, we go beyond the festival programme to explore the ideas, research and people behind the events. From poetry and stand-up comedy to Pilates, women’s health, the science of death and the wellbeing of NHS nurses, each conversation uncovers the stories and ideas shaping how we understand health today.

Hosted by Team London Bridge, the podcast features interviews with poets, comedians, museum directors, festival organisers, local business owners and healthcare professionals. Together, we explore how culture, creativity and community can support healthier lives, and why London Bridge, from Keats’s medical training at Guy’s to Florence Nightingale’s legacy, has long been a place where medicine and innovation meet. Whether you are attending the festival or simply curious about the intersection of health and culture, Medi-Culture Conversations offers a space to slow down, learn something new, and connect with the ideas behind the programme.

In this episode, Ilsa is joined by Matron Shirley Mullings, Surgical Oncology Matron and Professional Nurse Advocate, and Gabi Salmon of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, to explore how we look after the people who look after us. They discuss how thinking about wellbeing at work has changed, how the Dorcas Ward Wellbeing Days came about, and the impact on nurses and their teams. Shirley and Gabi also unpack the role of Professional Nurse Advocate, including restorative clinical supervision and how it supports compassionate leadership on the ward. They look at the Tai Chi and hand and shoulder massage sessions Team London Bridge is helping to fund, and what it means to work in a hospital with such a deep history of health.