Paul Blackett

Paul Blackett started his career working for the inventor of the world’s first blood glucose meter in a small business unit in Consett, County Durham. After spending several years in medical electronics manufacturing in South Tyneside, Paul joined the NHS in 1985. Initially working at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne as an Electronics Technician Paul also spent some time at South Tyneside General Hospital, before eventually moving southwards to take up a post at the Royal Preston Hospital as a Senior Medical Engineer.

Paul is currently Medical Engineering Manager at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which comprises two acute hospital sites at Chorley and Preston. Through workshops at these two hospitals, the medical engineering team delivers a comprehensive service to their own trust and through service level contracts, to neighbouring organizations.

Paul is a member and past chair of the Clinical Engineering (North) National Performance Advisory Group and is an active member of IPEM, working as an external moderator for the technologist training scheme and a past member of the Clinical Engineering Special Interest Group. He has presented at scientific meetings on the subject of risk, key performance indicators, standardization and cross-Atlantic differences in Clinical Engineering guidance. Paul has also been part of the Department of Health working party on Modernising Scientific Careers and a member of the Northwest Healthcare Science Workforce Board. Paul is currently IPEM representative on the Register of Clinical Technologists Management Panel.

Paul graduated with BSc (Hons) after completing a part-time degree in Computing and Electronics. Keen on systems and standardisation, Paul’s current work interests lie in unique device identification (UDI) and risk analysis.