The development of leaders in healthcare is widely recognised as being integral to improving the quality of care for patients. This is why we are investing millions of pounds in the healthcare leaders of tomorrow, through our portfolio of distinctive leadership award schemes.
Traditionally leadership development has been focused on the needs of individuals. While this is undoubtedly important, it only goes part of the way to overcoming some of the inherent cultural challenges in healthcare which can often impede sustainable service improvements.
The Health Foundation recognises that, in healthcare, teamwork is of paramount importance and each member of a team brings a unique set of skills and responsibilities. To really achieve lasting improvements in healthcare it is important for the team to develop as a whole.
Through Shared Leadership for Change we are working with multi-organisational or multi-disciplinary teams (including social services and voluntary sector organisations). This is particularly relevant because patient care often involves staff from different organisations and means that the leadership development opportunities offered by Shared Leadership for Change reflect the reality of working in healthcare.
What are we doing?
We launched a new scheme, Improving the quality of care for people from black and minority ethnic groups, in March 2007.
This scheme is aimed at multi-organisational groups working to improve the quality of healthcare for BME groups. We will support six outstanding teams to become more effective in their work to improve the quality of care for people from BME groups. It is a unique opportunity for teams who are passionate about delivering projects to improve mainstream health services.
We have chosen to focus on this area because research shows that there are large inequalities in health outcomes throughout the UK and many people from BME groups are particularly disadvantaged. In some areas these inequalities are widening and this presents a challenge to the quality of healthcare in the UK that we feel must be addressed.
What’s more, the UK is more ethnically diverse than ever before – almost 10% of the population are of BME origin and there are now areas where over 50% of the population are from BME groups. In addition, ethnic minorities are expected to account for 73% of projected population growth. So, any improvement in the quality of care for BME groups has the potential to have a positive impact on a large, and growing, proportion of the population.
Benefits to participants
The Health Foundation’s Shared Leadership Initiative launched in 2005. Since then we have been providing leadership development support to a variety of teams in different settings and with successful results. The first round of Shared Leadership for Change was focused on multi-organisational teams working to improve the quality of healthcare for people with diabetes.
In addition, as part of our Safer Patients Initiative, we’ve been working with multi-disciplinary teams based in hospitals across the UK to help them become more effective in their quest to improve patient safety.
It is still early days for the initiative but teams are already starting to see benefits from their participation in the Shared Leadership Initiative. Teams have spoken of how their work with a leadership development consultant has:
- encouraged greater confidence in the value of team-working
- improved flexibility within the teams
- helped overcome organisational or cultural barriers in the systems.
Koon Lan Chan, Shared Leadership for Change 2005-06Southport and Formby Primary Care Trust“As individuals, we felt we had the skills and knowledge to deliver and improve services for the people we care for. But as a team, we struggled to turn strategies into action. Shared Leadeship for Change has enabled us to recognise and capitalise on the potential within our team. More than just a group of people with good intentions, we're now translating our intentions and vision into actions with improved services for patients as a result.”