The NHS and the need for Change in its institutionalised Culture and Leadership styles

The report highlighted that there needs to be more emphasis on Emotional Leadership with more consistency and co-ordination, that the existing institutionalised Culture needs to change, that more Team Collaboration and Cohesion is needed, and that staff are to be encouraged and supported to improve Embracing Differences in the workplace.

It emphasised that the NHS leadership and management teams need to act now on improving equality, diversity and inclusion within this sector, and that there needs to be a focus on developing consistent management standards through effective leadership training and development programmes, to enable clear routes for progression to ensure a “strong pipeline of future talent.”

It is clear from the report findings that traditional leadership approaches are not enough anymore - not only in the NHS but across the whole of the Healthcare industry as well. The workplace has become a ‘battlefield’ of sorts in its ‘VUCA’ challenges of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

An emphasis on leadership transparency is called for, with higher emotional leadership skills, empathy and compassion, better approaches to leading by example with more consistency, co-ordination and communication, and improvements to the engagement, encouragement, support and coaching is required for individuals and teams to achieve more collaboration and cohesion.

For NHS leaders that’s a huge remit to deliver alongside ensuring that the ever-demanding department targets are being achieved.

Sir Gordon Messenger, commissioned by the government to oversee the report findings, said that the NHS, and its healthcare partners, need to take immediate action if it is to achieve its goal to “transform its health and social care leadership and management to ensure that it is an environment which is well-led, motivated, valued, collaborative, inclusive, with a resilient workforce – all of which is key to the priority of better patient and public outcomes.”

This goal can only be achieved if NHS leaders themselves have the right personal leadership development training, as stated in the report, to help them to address the leadership “inadequacy” shortfalls identified, to instill a change of culture, and manage and improve on the issues of inequality, discrimination, bullying, blame and responsibility avoidance.

Over the past 25 years, The Oakridge Centre has, and continues to, work with the NHS and a broad range of healthcare organisations, in providing specialist and tailored Leadership Development Programmes, delivered to the highest standards of support required, and with proven measurable ROI results.