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Lack of leadership skills could wreck health service transformation - report

A lack of skills in leadership and change management in the NHS and private healthcare pose a long-term risk to the health sector, a new report wants.

Skills for Health, the sector skills council for all health employers, says transforming services requires specialist knowledge and abilities but that these are lacking in many managers at the moment.

Its head of research, Ian Wheeler, said: “Skills gaps are always a cause for concern and are particularly worrying at a time when the sector is undergoing significant change.

“Management, team-working and problem-solving skills in particular are set to become much more important as employers embark on large-scale workforce transformation.

“It is vital health employers continue to invest in skills development, if they are to realise the vision of a flexible and productive workforce continuing to deliver high-quality care.”

Skills for Health said managing transformation in the health sector will need “unprecedented” improvements in quality and productivity.

In the assessment, 32% of employers in England report management and leadership skills gaps, rising to 44% for problem-solving skills and 41% for team-working skills. Similar proportions of employers reported problems in Scotland.

Drawing on scenario planning, the emerging skills priorities for the years to 2020 include:

Continued development of workforce planning capability in the sector, to assist with changes to a highly complex set of services;

Growth in the demand for those willing and able to undertake roles at Career Framework levels 3 to 4 (Assistant Practitioners) and at level 7 (Advanced Practitioners);

Ongoing development of new skills sets in the light of new opportunities to exploit technology;

Ongoing willingness of health care professionals to deliver care in areas that require multi-disciplinary working within diverse teams;

Growth in the skills and volume of those working in a range of non-traditional health care providers and community settings;

Development of health skills for non-health specialists to assist family carers and to facilitate self-care.

To read the UK Sector Skills Assessment 2011 in full visit www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/lmi

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