Exploring effective leadership and team management in healthcare

With more than 1.7 million staff members, the NHS in England has a sizable management team to supervise its workforce, with recent statistics indicating that there are approximately 36,000 managers within the organisation.

These managers are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the health service, but it’s important to remember that the very best managers are also leaders. In fact, leadership transcends management – it inspires, motivates, and empowers people. And in healthcare settings, good leadership is linked to greater innovation, the well-being of healthcare professionals, and – most importantly – it’s linked to high-quality patient care.

Why is leadership in health and social care so important?

Effective leadership in health and social care brings a number of benefits. For example, it’s linked to:

• Efficient service delivery

• Increased patient safety

• Reduced medical errors

• Improved patient outcomes

• Better mental health within teams

This is because leaders set the tone in their work environments. They influence staff job satisfaction and wider team morale, and these in turn directly impact the quality of care for patients.

“Leadership is the most influential factor in shaping organisational culture, and ensuring the necessary leadership behaviours, strategies and qualities are developed is fundamental,” says The King’s Fund, a health and social care think-tank and charity. 

The Health Foundation, another independent think-tank and charity, agrees: “Good management is key to the NHS’s ability to provide high-quality services and to maximise the impact of its resources in the face of growing demand for care.”

Types of leadership in healthcare

As with other sectors, there are a variety of leadership styles employed within healthcare. For example, some managers adopt a transactional leadership style, focused on structured tasks and rewards, while others prefer democratic leadership, where decision-making is shared among team members. 

While each style has its place, many believe that the most effective style is transformational leadership, where leaders inspire their teams to exceed their own expectations. And others believe that different situations call for different styles; which is best will depend on the specific situation, challenge, or team dynamic. 

Within the NHS, meanwhile, there’s the Healthcare Leadership Model, which has been “designed to help people develop as leaders by discovering and exploring their behaviours.”

The Healthcare Leadership Model includes nine different dimensions, each of which has been deemed important for leaders within the NHS:

1. Inspiring shared purpose

2. Leading with care

3. Evaluating information

4. Connecting NHS services

5. Sharing the vision

6. Engaging the team

7. Holding to account

8. Developing capability

9. Influencing for results

What makes a healthcare leader effective?

An effective healthcare leader will possess a blend of competencies, such as:

• Strong subject area knowledge

• Excellent communication skills

• Adaptability

• An ability to foster teamwork and mentorship

Healthcare leaders are, in short, role models. They demonstrate behaviours that prioritise patient safety, professional development, and initiatives that improve healthcare delivery.

The healthcare leader’s toolkit: tips for building high-performing teams

There are various strategies and methods for leading great healthcare teams, but three of the most effective strategies prioritise teamwork, conflict resolution, and performance.

Teamwork: the value – and effectiveness – of teamwork in healthcare

Effective teamwork is essential for high-quality modern healthcare. Behind every medical appointment or procedure is a team of people, and the best care relies on this team working in partnership and collaboration. It is the responsibility of diverse health professionals, from frontline clinicians and nurses to specialists and support staff, to work cohesively towards the very best care for patients.

The value of this is clear. In NHS England’s Building Collaborative Teams guidance, it notes: “A collaborative approach can improve communication, save time, reduce duplication of effort, improve working relationships and provide a better experience for people who use health and social care services.”

Effective leaders actively cultivate environments where teamwork thrives, recognising that collective expertise is more powerful than any one individual effort. These leaders build trust within their staff, demonstrate the behaviours they want to see in their teams, and make sure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. 

Conflict resolution: the best strategies for resolving conflict in healthcare teams

Conflicts are, occasionally, inevitable within healthcare systems and providers. But these conflicts, when managed well, can lead to growth and improvement within individuals and teams.

Good leaders use strategies such as active listening, empathy, and mediation to resolve conflicts, ensuring that team dynamics remain constructive and focused on patient care.

Improving performance: methods for boosting team performance and patient outcomes

Effective healthcare relies on staff who are dedicated to the pursuit of lifelong learning and professional development. To stay on top of the latest health and care research, methodologies, and practices, staff need to be actively focused on boosting their own knowledge and skills. 

With this in mind, one of the most effective tactics for a good manager is to lead by example, demonstrating a focus on training and development, including building their leadership skills through leadership development courses and programmes. Team leaders should also carve out space for their team members to focus on their own development and mentoring, and actively encourage innovation and new ways of working to deliver high quality care.

Leaders in healthcare can also boost team performance – and patient outcomes – by:

• Setting clear objectives

• Providing regular feedback

• Adopting new, evidence-based interventions

Key challenges in leading healthcare teams – and how to overcome them

Managing healthcare teams often means leading diverse, and even multidisciplinary, groups of people. It requires leaders to navigate varied professional cultures, expertise levels, and expectations – not to mention finite resources and a surplus of time pressure and stress.

In this environment, challenges can include ensuring effective communication, time management, aligning diverse expertise towards common goals, and resource management constraints. But leaders can address these challenges by adopting a leadership style that is flexible, inclusive, consistent, and focused on a culture of mutual respect and collaboration.

Become an effective leader in healthcare

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