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09.11.16

Framework to focus on compassionate and inclusive leadership

WEST, MICHAEL PHOTO editProfessor Michael West, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, who has been involved in the development of the National Improvement and Leadership Development Framework, explains why compassionate and inclusive leadership will be core to the framework.

National reports into NHS functioning without exception describe the importance of culture and leadership in local, regional and national organisations to the mission of delivering high-quality, continually improving and compassionate care for the people of our country. What they do not say is how we ensure we have the cultures and leadership we need to deliver on the mission.

The National Improvement and Leadership Development Framework aims to do that precisely that. It is currently being finalised after extensive consultation across the system. It has also been informed by research into high-quality care cultures and leadership and leadership development in health services.

Compassionate and inclusive leadership

Core to the framework will be an emphasis on compassionate and inclusive leadership. Why? Because compassion is the core value of the NHS and those who work within the sector. Compassion involves attending, understanding, empathising and helping. It was a societal value of compassion that motivated the creation of the first universal healthcare system, providing care free for every person in the country. And a work value of compassion is what motivated most of the NHS workforce to dedicate their working lives to caring for others. Compassionate care is core to patient satisfaction and experience too. So we must nurture compassionate cultures in the NHS.

As leadership is key to culture – leaders communicate, reinforce and sustain what is valued in practice in organisations – we must implement a model of compassionate leadership at every level. This means leaders paying attention to those they lead (listening with fascination); understanding the challenges and difficulties they face; empathising – having a felt connection while being able to tolerate and not over-identify with staff difficulties; and taking thoughtful, appropriate action to help and support staff to do their jobs effectively.

Compassionate leadership is not a ‘soft’ ideological approach: compassionate leadership creates an environment where bullying is rare and where learning and quality improvement are the norm. It is fundamental to high-quality, high-performing systems and drives improvement in performance – better patient outcomes, better population health and better value for money.

The framework will also emphasise inclusive leadership. This is leadership that hears all voices and empowers all to contribute to the achievement of high-quality, continually improving and compassionate care. That includes groups who currently experience high levels of discrimination be it on the grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability status. The framework recognises that the blight of discrimination on the basis, for example, of ethnicity must be dealt with decisively and now rather than allowed to continue for yet more years to come. The framework will, therefore, commit all organisations to ensuring appropriate representation of BME staff in leadership positions in the near future, including the national bodies. And it will focus on how to support everyone to lead and succeed. The NHS was created as an inclusive system and it must reflect that in how it functions in relation to its staff as well as in services for patients.

A longer version of Professor West’s article will feature in the November/December issue of NHE.

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