The Health Foundation runs a variety of leadership development schemes for individuals as well as multidisciplinary teams and organisations.
Good leadership is seen as central to delivering effective healthcare. Yet surprisingly little is known about how different types of leadership development can lead directly to better patient care.
The Health Foundation runs a range of leadership schemes, through which we’re evaluating different approaches to leadership development. We’re aiming to build a better understanding of the most effective ways to invest in leadership development for quality improvement.
Leadership development for individuals
We invest in developing the leadership skills of people who show the potential to lead quality improvement. We believe that effective, skilled leaders lie at the heart of lasting improvements to healthcare. We offer high quality leadership development opportunities to healthcare professionals free of charge.
We are looking for highly motivated and ambitious individuals who want to fulfil their potential to improve the quality of patient care. They should also inspire their teams and others to do the same.
What do the schemes involve?
Our unique leadership schemes combine both personal and professional development. They expose participants to a wide range of quality improvement tools and techniques. We use a variety of approaches including coaching, learning sets, seminars, workshops, taught courses, overseas experience and personalised support.
Our schemes are work-focused and keep leadership development relevant to the real situations, problems and challenges that health professionals face every day. For some of our schemes, participants choose a work-related project as the focus of their work for the whole scheme.
Multidisciplinary approach
The realities of working in healthcare are reflected in the multidisciplinary nature of our schemes. Groups are made up of people from diverse healthcare organisations and professions. This stimulates learning and creates invaluable networking opportunities, both during the scheme and after they end.
Free of charge
Health Foundation leadership schemes are offered free of charge. We run an open but highly competitive application process and places are limited. This means we can select the very best people – those who can make a disproportionate difference to improving the quality of care. This in turn enriches the experience for fellow members of the groups. In return we demand a high level of commitment.
Organisational support
We also ask for active support from participants’ organisations. This allows people the time out to complete the scheme and also provides the real projects and challenges that play an important role in their learning. Participants relish the opportunity to step back from their day-to-day jobs and approach the challenges they face from a different perspective. The support means participants can turn their insights into tangible improvements that bring ongoing benefits to their organisations and most importantly to patients.
Evaluation approach
To help us make sure we’re delivering the most effective leadership development, we evaluate all our leadership schemes thoroughly. This helps us to improve the schemes. It also helps generate learning about effective methods of leadership development to benefit others too.
Our leadership schemes for individuals are:
- Clinician Scientist Fellowships
- Harkness/Health Foundation Fellowships
- Health Foundation Leadership Fellows
- Leaders for Change
- Quality Improvement Fellowships
Leadership development for teams
Through two different schemes, The Health Foundation is exploring how far investing in leadership development across multidisciplinary teams can improve in patient care.
Trusts and organisations working with us on our Engaging with Quality initiatives are also receiving leadership development support to help them achieve the programmes' ambitious goals.
- Read more about the Engaging with Quality Initiative
Tony BellChief Executive, Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital NHS Trust Read Tony's article about leadership
'I have seen individuals from within my trust develop both personally and professionally through their participation in The Health Foundation's leadership schemes.'
Sir Ian Carruthers OBEChief Executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority'The Health Foundation is building a cadre of skilled, motivated professionals who have the right leadership potential and a dedication to improve the quality of service delivered to NHS patients.'