Meet the team – Kat Hancock

Q: Hi Kat, it’s lovely to meet you. Can you tell us a little bit about your role at Epro?

I joined Epro in February 2023 as the Business Development Director, which means I’m responsible for driving market visibility, growth and net new business in existing and new markets for Epro.

My primary focus is expanding our client portfolio and bringing in new opportunities. This involves reaching out to potential clients to showcase the Epro platform and responding to any openings and handling tenders. Additionally, I look after all of the frameworks Epro are on which is our route to market. I’m also heavily involved in the marketing and PR as well as looking after the events we do. For example, we are exhibiting at Rewired 24 next month, so I’m currently busy prepping for that!

Q: What would you say is the thing you enjoy most about your job?

Good question! What initially attracted me to Epro was the platform itself. Before joining, I looked at Epro’s website and platform to see if it was something I could see the benefit in for the NHS and get passionate about and also gauge whether it really did have the potential to make clinicians’ lives easier. It didn’t take long for me to realise Epro’s potential! The platform is truly remarkable—it thinks like a clinician and I could instantly see that it was built by a clinician for clinicians! It easily consolidates all the necessary information in one place. Having worked in an NHS, I know the challenge of navigating through 4 or 5 different systems to retrieve patient information. Epro simplifies and accelerates this process, making it quick and easy to use. I also love the people here, which is another reason I love working here, we have a close-knit group that all want to do right by the NHS.

 

Q: How did you decide to get into healthcare?

Initially I started working with mental health patients in the community, supporting them with independent living, attending MDT’s and ensuring the Service Users had the necessary support for them to thrive. After two years of doing this, I wanted to expand my knowledge and experience and went on to work on an acute psychiatric ward, which was a national specialist ward for profoundly deaf sign language users. Both roles ignited my passion for healthcare – as well as a side passion for British Sign Language, which I learned whilst working on the ward.

I have spent the past eight years in healthtech, which has been great. It’s very interesting working on both sides of the NHS, and now my mission is to make clinicians’ lives easier through our great technology!

 

Q: That’s fantastic. So, outside of work, what do you enjoy doing?

Well, I’m based in Manchester, so I’m a very proud Manchester City fan. I’m also a massive foodie, and ever since I was young, I’ve loved to cook and eat at lovely places. I’m fortunate to live near the centre of Manchester, where we’re lucky to have a lot of independent restaurants and really good places to eat that my partner and I regularly take advantage of.

I’m also a massive reader and aim to finish a book each week – usually a good crime fiction; I have also got into audio books recently but I still love turning a page in a book! I’m also a huge fan of all music and love nothing more than going to a gig. I hold a special place in my heart for Taylor Swift though and I am an unapologetic fan of country music.

 

Q: Finally, what is one thing you would like readers to know about yourself or Epro that they might not know already?

I think the one key aspect I’d like readers to know is that whilst Epro is widely recognised for its expertise in digital dictation and clinical correspondence – which forms the core functionality and foundation of our product – we offer so much more than that.

Over the last few years especially, we’ve introduced some great additional products and modules to our platform – features like bed management, mobile, referrals, and RTT outcomes. Our platform also operates on a modular structure, allowing users to customise their experience based on specific needs. That said, we are not, nor do we aim to be a full-blown EPR; our modular clinical platform is designed to provide flexibility and tailored solutions to trusts to meet their specific needs aligned to their existing applications and digital infrastructure – as well as maximising their financial investment in those.