The Patient Perspective: The Importance of Our Work
In 2024, Stephen Potts, Director at Purdie Pascoe, was diagnosed with a giant brain aneurysm which required complex surgery and a long recovery journey. Thanks to the exceptional care from his surgeons, doctors, therapists and nurses, Stephen has made significant strides in his recovery and is now enthusiastically back at work.
As healthcare market researchers, we help companies gain crucial insights to ensure patients receive the best possible treatment and management, ultimately improving human health worldwide.
With over 25 years’ experience in healthcare market research, Stephen's recent journey has given him a unique patient perspective about the importance of our work, and the fact that Stephen now has three Medtronic flow diverters to help him live life to the full illustrates this perfectly.
In this short interview, Stephen shares insights about his journey, his return to work, and how his experience has deepened his passion for healthcare market research.
Interview with Stephen Potts
Last year, you faced a stressful diagnosis with a giant brain aneurysm. Can you share some insights about your diagnosis?
I was diagnosed in April 2024 with a giant brain aneurysm. (It was the aneurysm that was giant, not my brain hehe) I was very lucky in that it was diagnosed before it had ruptured, which would have been life threatening. In August 2024, I had surgery to place three flow diverters in one of the most important arteries in the brain, the basilar artery, and to pack my aneurysm with coils. In fact, I now have >£50,000 worth of platinum in my brain! Although the surgery was successful it created inflammation which put pressure on my brain stem and caused severe neurological symptoms. I spent three and a half months in hospital learning to walk, eat and drink again.
Through careful treatment management, support from various healthcare professionals, and your own determination, you've made great progress in your recovery. How does it feel to have come this far?
It's incredible to look back over the last six months and to take stock of the progress that I've made. In September, it was only through the skill and judgement of the surgeons at St George’s hospital that I survived. In October I started to walk again and as of January I am back at work and have even completed two park runs! None of this would have been possible without the incredible care and support of the nurses, therapists and doctors at St. Georges and at The Bradley Unit, which is a specialist Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit in Woking, where I stayed for seven weeks as I learnt how to walk (and play basketball) again.
How has your experience highlighted the importance of patient-centricity?
When the proverbial hit the fan, the inflammation in my brain became life threatening. Opinion leaders from three different centres in the UK as well as Cedars Sinai medical centre in the US all provided input as to the best course of action. Based purely on my brain scans it was clear that further surgery was needed, but my interventionist, who was seeing me every day, made decisions based on how I was presenting, not on my brain scans. This led to a more conservative treatment approach relying on medical management rather than surgery which ultimately meant that my recovery was much faster.
How do you think your experience will shape you as a market researcher moving forward?
This whole experience has been eye opening for me. As healthcare market researchers we often see the doctor as the primary decision maker and rightly so. However, the patient experience is just as heavily influenced by nurses and therapists and as a researcher I will push my clients to involve all members of multidisciplinary teams in their research.
Also, my experience has underlined for me the importance of the patient. Every patient is different, has different needs, expectations and motivations. I have no doubt that my doctors and therapists were able to improve my outcomes because they took the time to find out what made me tick what would motivate me to give my all through the rehabilitation process. For example, my therapists at the Bradley Unit found out that I am a keen fencer, they therefore brought rubber batons in to get me fencing and ultimately get me moving more quickly.
Based on your experience, what key insights can you share about improving the treatment and awareness of giant brain aneurysms?
Well, the surgery that I had has only existed for ten years. If I had been diagnosed before that I would have been sent home to live my life and told to cross my fingers hoping the aneurysm wouldn’t burst. Therefore, the management of giant brain aneurysms has improved significantly over the decade. However, I think we're still learning how the brain reacts to this surgery. It is very difficult to predict which patients will and won’t suffer with massive inflammation. The Impact of this information varies greatly depending on where in the brain the aneurysm is situated. As we gain more experience with this type of surgery, we will be able to more accurately predict how patients will react and recover.
The other key learning for me has been the invaluable role that rehabilitation centres play in the recovery of brain injury patients. I would not be functioning to the level that I am without the seven weeks that I spent in the Bradley unit in Woking. Unfortunately, these units are few and far between and woefully underfunded.
You started back at Purdie Pascoe in January 2025. How does it feel to be back and what key changes have you noticed since you were away?
It's great to be back. I love working with the Purdie Pascoe team, and have thoroughly appreciated their unwavering support throughout my recovery, it's also great to be back working with our clients again. When you've been through a health challenge like I have it makes you very grateful for the health innovations and applications clients bring to patients and to think that we contribute in a small way to bringing these innovations to market fills me with pride.
It has also been incredible to see how Purdie Pascoe has grown and developed during my time away. We have a raft of new clients many of whom are US-based and have joined us through our new US office. We have adopted AI tools at pace to help us deliver more insightful qualitative and quantitative research. We have also upped our game in terms of telling the industry what Purdie Pascoe is all about. We used to be one of the best kept secrets in healthcare market research but it's no longer a secret!