Episode 21 — Partha Kar’s SPARK: Transforming diabetes care using his “Five-to-Drive-Change”

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Professor Partha Kar joins The Glucose Never Lies® Podcast to unpack how the UK moved from research to reality in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and hybrid closed-loop systems (AID) — and how the same approach can be applied to any challenge in life or leadership.

Through openness, accountability, and courage, Partha helped create one of the fastest national tech adoptions in healthcare history. At the centre of that journey sits a practical philosophy anyone can use: the S-P-A-R-K Mindset, his Five-to-Drive-Change Framework.

It’s not just about diabetes care — it’s about how you make things happen.

Partha Kar on what matters:

  • Implementation is where science becomes real.
  • Social media can be a listening system and an accountability engine.
  • Accountability ≠ blame — transparency builds trust.
  • Equity starts with measuring bias and publishing it.
  • Language and leadership shape safety.
  • Every change starts with a SPARK.

The S-P-A-R-K Mindset — Five-to-Drive-Change Framework

S – Start small, prove it locally
Change begins in your patch. Pilot, test, measure. Evidence beats opinion.

P – Put your skin in the game
If you believe in it, stand behind it. Take the risk, own the outcome.

A – Accountability, not blame
Use data to shine a light — RAG ratings, heat maps — but keep language neutral. Data should nudge, not shame.

R – Reveal through listening
True leadership starts with the community. Listen first; understand before you act.

K – Keep language human
Words shape behaviour. Talk with people, not at them. Better language builds safer systems.

Download Partha’s Five-to-Drive-Change and SPARK meaningful change in your work and life!

Episode Summary

  • How Partha Kar and the NHS scaled CGM and hybrid closed-loop systems
  • Using social media as a listening and accountability engine
  • Creating culture change through transparent data
  • Tackling health inequalities — what paediatrics got right
  • The power of implementation science over theory
  • Language Matters — why words drive behaviour
  • Leadership as action and ownership, not charisma

⏱️ Chapters

  • 00:00 The CGM Journey: From Science to Street
  • 04:15 Harnessing Social Media for Change
  • 09:19 Accountability Without Blame
  • 14:29 Implementation Science in Action
  • 19:59 The Future of Diabetes Care
  • 20:54 Seeing Bias in the Data
  • 23:41 Paediatric Equality — Closing the Gap
  • 25:10 Peer Learning from Sweden
  • 28:00 Physician Associates — Safety and Scope
  • 31:45 Patient Safety and Accuracy in Tech
  • 35:35 Skin in the Game — Leadership With Consequences
  • 37:57 SPARK Recap — Five-to-Drive Framework

Partha Kar can be found across the socials — and yes, he’ll interact.

But be ready: if your focus is theory without action, he’ll challenge you. Because, as Partha says, science without implementation is just an academic treadmill — a cycle of papers without substance.

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