How can leaders influence a safety culture?

Dr Michael Leonard and Dr Allan Frankel explore how effective leadership and organisational fairness are essential for patient safety within healthcare services. They discuss how leaders can influence their organisations to help create a robust safety culture.

At the Health Foundation, we know that effective leadership is vital for the delivery of safe patient services. For a number of years, we have been running quality improvement and leadership development programmes, and working with healthcare leaders on the front line, to strengthen leadership within healthcare in order to improve patient safety.

Health Foundation thought papers are the author’s own views. We would like to thank Dr Leonard and Dr Frankel for their work, which we hope will stimulate ideas, reflection and discussion.