A new report, published by the King’s Fund, identifies the behaviours, effectiveness, competencies and key personal characteristics required of an effective leader, whether they work at local or national level.
“Effective leaders in health services emphasise continually that safe, high quality, compassionate care is the top priority.”
Personal traits include empathy, fairness, respect, compassion, empowering, and engaging. It looks at the requirements in five different areas of leadership:
- Individual leadership in health services
- Team leadership, ensuring that all members understand the part they play and have the skills to do their job effectively with other team members
- Leadership of organisations, for example, when organisations are led by a board, must be consistent in all areas
- The influence of national level leaders on the cultures of NHS organisations
- The effectiveness of leader and leadership development programmes
The evidence summarised in this report is important for commissioners because it defines the leadership skills required
Evidence base
The evidence summarised in this report is important for commissioners, because it defines the leadership skills required for the successful delivery of quality health and social care services, both locally and nationally. The analysis of the evidence has been divided into four sections:
- Leadership theory and research in general
- Leadership theory and research in health care
- Leadership, culture and climate in health care
- Leader and leadership development
Finding and synthesising the evidence for leadership in health care is very difficult because there are different leadership styles and variations in service delivery and priorities around the world. The reference list at the end of the document is an invaluable resource for further reading on this subject area.
Services must be planned and managed effectively, and aligned with objectives
Leadership task
Commissioners and providers must provide strong and consistent leadership to their employees, ensuring that the need to deliver continuous levels of quality improvement is embedded in the culture of their organisations. The authors suggest that within their organisations, the main task for leaders is to ensure:
- Direction – if staff understand what the organisation is trying to achieve, they will commit to, and take pride in their individual, professional responsibilities
- Alignment – leaders need to make sure that the services their organisation provides are planned and managed effectively, so that they integrate with other providers, and service delivery can be seamless, improving the patient experience
- Commitment – this links back to ‘direction’, because people will support their organisation if they believe in its values and strategy
High quality care
The section on leadership for cultures of high quality care is particularly interesting as it draws on previous research which says that “regulatory systems, increasing competition and setting targets” are not sufficient to bring about the change in practice required to improve care while making cost savings.
Five key cultural elements
In addition to the leadership task described above, the authors describe the five key cultural elements needed to ensure high quality compassionate care and these are:
- Inspiring visions followed by leadership action
- Clear, aligned objectives
- Excellent staff management and engagement
- Embedding learning, innovation and quality improvement in all practice
- Effective teams
This report will help all organisations delivering health and social care services to the general public to nurture a culture that focuses on continually improving high quality, safe and compassionate care. Not only does it focus on the elements of leadership, including styles and competencies, but also looks at the various ways to improve leadership skills.
There are five key cultural elements needed to ensure high quality compassionate care
Commentary
This is such an important report for commissioners and providers to read, as it provides a clear insight into how to improve quality through effective leadership.
However, while it covers leadership in general, people in other sectors, such as the third sector or local authorities, who are important partners for the health service, may not be aware of the report and may have their own thoughts on leadership styles and competencies.
Commissioners should share this report with all their partners, so that those who are not familiar with leadership in health care can understand what commissioners and the NHS are trying to achieve, and the importance of improving quality in health care. Greater understanding will make it easier to work together, and identify a vision and a set of clear objectives that all parties can commit to.
Link
West M, Armit K, Eckert R, West T, Lee A. (2015) Leadership and leadership development in health care: The evidence base. The King’s Fund, London (pdf)
