One thing is clear…..if A&E departments across the country are going to meet the challenges facing them this winter, the NHS will require outstanding clinical leadership.
Dame Ruth Carnall Calls for Strong Clinical Leadership
Dame Ruth Carnall DBE in her eloquent interview describes the need for the NHS of the future to have strong clinical leadership. She describes the need for more explicit information in the public domain concerning the evidence behind decisions and also the performance of healthcare services. She describes the way that clinicians are much more able to influence the public and ultimately change their behaviour than any manager or politician.
Whole System Change
The issues making headline news within A&E departments are system wide issues, and the required 
changes span the whole health economy. The problems are complex and intertwined with issues of commissioning, the A&E funding model, GP contracts, out of hours care provision, social care funding, ambulance and community service provision.
The Very Best in Clinical Leadership
To find sustainable long term solutions to these complex issues the NHS needs its clinical leaders to perform at their very best…..to inspire, to create and to realise truly radical change. These leaders need to span acute, primary and community care services. They need to be able to inspire change in their own staff, inspire change in colleagues of neighbouring organisations, and perhaps most importantly gain the confidence of the public to change their behaviour in the way they access and use the services.
A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.
Working Across Organisational Boundaries
They will need to work in partnership across organisational boundaries, to seek solutions to entrenched issues, and to produce a truly integrated plan for the whole health economy.
What has changed, is both the urgency with which the system now needs to make these changes, and the consequences of failure….
None of this is new. Many of these challenges have been present / been developing in the NHS over very many years. But what has changed, is both the urgency with which the system now needs to make these changes, and the consequences of failure…. So…the question now remains….are the leaders out there prepared for this challenge?
Dearden Search and Selection specialises in supporting NHS organisations select the most talented leaders. If you would like to discuss how to ensure your health economy identifies and recruits the very best leaders, contact us on search.selection@deardenjobs.co.uk or 01404 814248