Edelman Trust Barometer
2025 – event overview
Join us for an insightful event as we unveil the highly anticipated 2025 UK health sector results of the Edelman Trust and Health Special Report. Now in its fourth year, Edelman's annual study of Trust and Health has revealed troubling trends in how the public relates to health institutions over time, providing a window into the ever-evolving trust landscape within health.
The 2025 Edelman Trust and Health Special Report exposes a growing disconnect between young people and traditional health institutions. While trust in doctors and medical professionals remains nominally high, younger audiences increasingly turn to social media, influencers, and online communities for health advice. This shift reflects a deeper sense of disillusionment—many feels unheard or unsupported by official channels and instead seek relatable voices they can access on their own terms. But this digital-first behaviour comes with risks: misinformation thrives where credibility is lacking. The report challenges healthcare leaders to meet this generation where they are—online, empathetic, and credible—to begin rebuilding lost trust.
Our event will feature a presentation by Edelman Health UK Managing Director Eleanor Read on this year’s results and will be followed by a robust panel discussion exploring the business and communication impacts for people working in the health industry. This will be followed by a short Q&A with the audience.
Our panellists include:
Eleanor Read, Managing Director (Moderator)
Eleanor joined Edelman in 2008 and has more than 18 years of experience in scientific and health communications.
A highly experienced science communicator and strategist, Eleanor has deep knowledge across a wide variety of therapeutic areas and scientific disciplines. She has overseen brand, franchise and corporate communications campaigns for health companies large and small. She has led teams delivering global and local market strategic communications directed towards HCPs, patients and payers. Eleanor's key area of interest is rooted in her science background; developing programs that deliver meaningful behaviour change in the target audience through the application of evidence-based approaches.
Eleanor began her career in medical education programs and so has an in-depth understanding of not just the dissemination and amplification of peer-reviewed articles and scientific meetings, but also their content. Her therapeutic experience encompasses oncology, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, respiratory disease, autoimmune diseases, solid organ transplantation, rare genetic disorders, osteoporosis, gout and nutrition.
In her current role as Managing Director of Health at Edelman UK, Eleanor is responsible for developing and driving the future vision and strategy of one of Europe's leading health communications businesses.
Eleanor received her Doctorate from King’s College London following on from a BSc in Pharmacology from Southampton University.
Neil Flash, Owner of Ignition Consulting
Neil Flash is a highly accomplished health communications professional with nearly 30 years of experience. He has built a reputation for developing enduring partnerships and collaborations across the health industry, leveraging his strategic acumen, scientific expertise, deep industry knowledge, and passion for enhancing health outcomes.
Neil has supported several in-house functions, designing and delivering integrated programmes with some of the world’s most innovative life science companies. As the owner of Ignition Consulting, he now partners with leaders across the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and with agencies in the medical, health communications, marketing, and creative services sectors. His consultancy specialises in sparking critical thinking, accelerating agency potential, and optimising partnerships to deliver exceptional outcomes for organisations, their stakeholders, clinical assets, and brands.
In an agency-based career marked by award-winning and consistent commercial success, Neil’s last appointment before launching Ignition was a dual-focused role within IPG, serving as Managing Director of dna Communications and Chief Operating Officer for Weber Shandwick UK.
Neil’s contributions to the industry are widely recognised. He is co-chair of the Communiqué Awards, helping to elevate and celebrate excellence in healthcare communications, and a member of the Healthcare Communications Association’s working party on agency–industry partnership. He was named in May as one of the inaugural 2025 Independent Impact 50 winners, recognising his influence across the independent consulting sector. Neil is also a collaborative partner to the Black Professionals in Life Sciences Group, supporting their work to drive greater representation, inclusion, and equity across the life sciences industry.
Beyond his professional commitments, Neil is a trustee and communications advisor for a community-based UK charity that supports over 2,000 families.
Rod Cartwright, Principal, Rod Cartwright Consulting
Rod Cartwright is the principal of Rod Cartwright Consulting, a strategic communication consultancy which works with in-house teams and agencies to enhance their human preparedness, organisational resilience and business performance. His focus is on issues management & crisis communication, leadership communication & executive preparedness, thought leadership & corporate reputation, and strategic problem-solving & facilitation.
Over a 25-year global PR agency career, Rod worked for international market leaders including Ketchum (as Global Corporate Practice Director), Text100/Archetype (EMEA Regional Director), Hill & Knowlton (Director) and GCI (Director).
His frontline experience includes advising Malaysia Airlines’ Chair, CEO and Board following the disappearance of Flight MH370 in 2014 and then the airline’s sovereign owner on its subsequent restructuring.
Rod is also the author of 'Reputation, Risk and Resilience' – a report that Rod releases annually summarising and analysing a set of major global research-based publications on those inter-related topics. The 2025 edition – released on 28th May – covered 11 reports, totalling 834-pages of source material and including the Edelman Trust Barometer. The 2024 edition was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Agency Thought Leadership at the 2025 PRovoke Media EMEA IN2 Sabre Awards.
Featured in the PRovoke Media 2023 Innovator25 EMEA list, he is a Visiting Fellow at Cardiff University’s internationally-renowned Centre for Media & Public Communication and Special Advisor to the CIPR’s Crisis Communications Network.
A PRCA Fellow and former Board Member, he was also Deputy Chair of the Global COVID-19 Taskforce, an active Steering Committee member of the Ukraine Communications Support Network and a member of the Professional Practices Committee which reviewed the Bell Pottinger Affair.
Maddy Farnworth, Head of Diabetes Policy, Novo Nordisk
Maddy is the Global Head of Diabetes Public Affairs and Patient Relations at Novo Nordisk. There, she helps to inform global commercial strategies by bringing the outside in as well as leading a team of policy and advocacy professionals working with affiliates and key external stakeholders to shape the future of diabetes care for the benefit of patients, health systems and society.
Maddy worked previously for MHP, where she led global client programmes for AstraZeneca across their global policy partnerships and supported their portfolio and pipeline policy programmes in their respiratory, immunology and rare disease franchises. Prior to that, she worked at Incisive Health and the Nuffield Trust – and remains a policy wonk at heart.