HEY Creative is committed to cross-sector partnership: bringing culture and sectors like business, education and healthcare together.
So when we learned about an innovative, award-winning partnership connecting a Creative Charter signatory and healthcare – we just had to share about it!
Hull Truck Theatre‘s GP training programme – which recently won the Innovation award at The Stage Awards 2026, and has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and the BBC News website – is a remarkable example of arts and healthcare working together, and a powerful reminder of what culture can achieve.
Over the past three years, Hull Truck Theatre has been delivering a unique GP training programme in partnership with a local NHS healthcare provider. The programme supports qualified doctors undertaking their three-year GP training, using drama techniques to build the communication skills, empathy and confidence needed to handle complex consultations.
How it works
The programme runs three cohorts each year, with each lasting six sessions: three practical drama sessions focused on skills development, and three ‘Forum Theatre’ sessions exploring real-life scenarios. Content is tailored to each year of training: Year 1 focuses on communication skills and simplifying medical jargon; Year 2 introduces role-play and empathy training; and Year 3 draws on real scenarios provided by the doctors themselves, encouraging deep reflection from both patient and practitioner perspectives.
Central to the programme is ‘Forum Theatre’, a method developed by Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal. In practice, trainee GPs watch a scenario involving conflict or miscommunication, are invited to interrupt and advise, and then step into the scene themselves, trying out new strategies in a safe, supported environment. At the end of each scenario, participants reflect on the actions taken and their implications, linking the exercise directly back to real-world practice.
As Emma Harkin, Salaried GP and GP Trainer at Hull and East Riding GP Training Scheme, puts it: “Communication is the greatest tool available to GPs. The sessions at Hull Truck Theatre have helped our trainees refine their ability to connect with patients in a fun and creative space.”
A model that travels
The success of the programme has led to a series of related initiatives.
- GP Trainers’ Meeting: Hull Truck Theatre hosted a session with 45 local GP trainers, leading a workshop on managing difficult conversations with trainees.
- NHS Staff Training: The theatre delivered two sessions on conflict resolution for NHS front-line staff, including receptionists and surgery managers, one for 200 people in Hull and another for 20 staff based in York.
Connecting to the Hull & East Yorkshire Creative Charter
Hull Truck Theatre is not only one of the region’s most important cultural institutions and a key part of the Hull and East Yorkshire creative landscape – it’s a founding signatory of the Hull & East Yorkshire Creative Charter. Projects like this one demonstrate exactly why the Creative Charter exists: when culture and other sectors work together, the results go far beyond what either could achieve alone.
A number of healthcare organisations across Hull and East Yorkshire are already signatories of the Creative Charter, recognising the value of culture to the communities they serve. Many signatories start out with modest or straightforward delivery of the 4 Charter commitments – our ‘One Year One’ survey found 91% marketed arts, culture and heritage to the public, and 81% advocated for it to other organisations, for example. This project is a vivid illustration of how developed and valuable collaborations between sectors can become, genuinely co-creating something with real-world impact.
And the Hull & East Yorkshire Creative Charter can be a great ladder to increase commitment, once a business has started it’s journey: as our One Year On survey showed, 76% of Charter members increased their support of arts, culture and heritage over the past year.
To find out more about Hull Truck Theatre, visit their website. You can find more about their training offer here.
To find out more about the Hull & East Yorkshire Creative Charter or to sign up, click here. Charter signatories can use our refreshed toolkit to find ideas, communicate support and make the case for culture.