Leading the Way in Building Critical Knowledge of Effective Healthcare

The first, entitled “Changing the Culture of the NHS” (27th April) addresses the pressing needs of NHS Boards to know how to effectively respond to the Francis Report on the findings of the Mid-Staffs review of quality and care in the NHS. The article presents new evidence gathered from analyses of data from Real World Group’s leading 360-degree feedback instrument – Board Leadership and Governance 360 – showing exactly which behaviours, competencies and team behaviours predict engagement levels of Board members and senior managers, and therefore contribute in essential ways to their effective performance. The findings also demonstrate which factors in Board behaviour increase the confidence of external parties in the Trust’s performance and sustainability. 

These findings add essential new information and guidance to the dearth of literature showing exactly how Boards can effectively influence more positive healthcare outcomes and quality of care. 

The second article, entitled “Making Leaders of Staff and Patients” (17th May) describes new thinking on how healthcare organisations can create cultures that are more conducive to effective treatment of mental health conditions through the Recovery philosophy. While healthcare organisations worldwide are increasingly adopting this approach to care and prevention of future healthcare issues, they have typically struggled to know how to adapt their culture to be able to embed the Recovery philosophy in how they operate, and therefore make it a sustainable and effective practice. 

This article was co-authored by a Real World Group client, Barwon Health (Australia), where they are having more success than most in making Recovery a comfortable reality for staff and service users. 

Both of these articles are available with modified titles on the Health Service Journal website – http://www.hsj.co.uk/leadership/transforming-leadership-culture-after-francis/5057102.article & http://www.hsj.co.uk/leadership/how-leadership-style-affects-mental-health-recovery/5058380.article?blocktitle=Resources-for-leaders&contentID=8081