The programme design and content has been informed by consultation with a wide range of NHS Wales stakeholders across clinical and workforce & OD professions. Content and evaluation from national programmes across Wales and other UK nations; as well as literature and research from organisations such as The Kings Fund, have also informed and shaped design.
The Programme design also reflects the Compassionate Leadership Principles for Health and Care (2021) taking the standpoint that leadership is a behaviour not a position. The Programme will therefore focus on the development of personal insight, and compassionate and collective leadership behaviours in addition to knowledge and skills acquisition and aims to:
- Nurture, support and inspire senior clinicians with the capability and ambition to take up formal senior leadership roles in NHS Wales.
- Equip senior clinicians with the confidence, knowledge & skills to lead compassionately and collectively.
- Create a cohort of multi-professional senior clinical leaders:
- with understanding of their current and potential influence and impact at individual, team and system levels
- who take responsibility for their own leadership development
- Establish a sustainable supportive network lasting beyond the Programme’s timeframe.
Who Is It For?
This Programme is designed to support clinical professionals with the capability and ambition to take up senior leadership roles across Wales.
Applications are welcomed from senior clinicians across all professions, who have significant management and leadership responsibilities. This may include:
- Service Leads
- Heads of Department/Service
- Clinical Directors
- Assistant and Associate Directors
The Programme is scheduled to commence in early Spring 2024 with cohorts of up to 24 places available. The Programme will be delivered through a blend of virtual and in person learning activities delivered within the South Wales region.
Programme Structure
The Programme is structured across three broad themes:
This module will increase self-awareness and understanding of personal impact and influence, with strategies for improved effectiveness.
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on and analyse their habitual go-to behaviours and develop the flexibility to adapt situationally and when they find themselves in challenging circumstances. Personal resilience and wellbeing will be explored in support of the current and future requirement to work within systems and environments which are uncertain and complex.
How individuals lead teams or behave as a team member and with those we work, is key to whether teams are effective and high performing and whether objectives are successfully achieved. Furthermore, according to extensive research carried out by Michael West and colleagues, effective teamwork has significant consequences for patient mortality.
This module will provide the opportunity to develop leadership skills and behaviours to lead teams and people effectively. Workshops and experiential learning activities will support the exploration of team theories and increase understanding of the key enablers to effective team working. Participants will gain clarity on their role in relation to their place as manager/ leader/ member of a team, identifying their preferred leadership styles and recognising the cultural climate they may create.
This module will prepare participants for the challenge of working beyond their current teams, services and organisations to achieve organisational or national objectives. The use of co-creative approaches and partnership strategies to support effective working with colleagues, patients and communities will be covered, enabling successful improvement and change at a system level.
Participants will benefit from greater clarity regarding the Welsh health and social care structure and improved understanding of systems such as planning and finance frameworks. Learning will focus on the strategic health and social care agenda and best practice models across the UK. Participants will also explore the transformation agenda and gain proven practical skills to aid their confidence and ability to drive successful cultural and system improvement.
Delivery
The Programme will be delivered over 10 months using a blended and flexible approach offering intensive personal and professional development. There will be opportunities for in person interaction throughout the programme interspersed with virtual learning. Delivery will be supported by online synchronous and asynchronous learning resources, accessed via a dedicated Programme page hosted on the ‘Gwella’ Leadership Portal.
