Our work: commissioned leadership programmes
As a foremost provider of cutting-edge leadership development programmes for the health care sector, we have been commissioned to run a number of high-level leadership programmes across the NHS.
For more information about these programmes, and to find out about our consultancy and organisational development work, contact us on 020 7307 2662, or email leadership@kingsfund.org.uk
Find out about commissioned programmes at:
- NHS South Central
- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
- The North West Leadership Academy
- Macmillan Cancer Support
NHS South Central
NHS South Central commissioned The King's Fund to develop a suite of leadership programmes to develop talent and build on the capability of its operational and strategic senior leaders.
We created a memorable and transformational development programme, featuring contributions from our own experts in policy as well as experts in finance and governance. The programme teams also worked with niche consortia partners such as Cumberlege Connections (providers of the politics module).
The Leading for Quality strand of the High Potential Leaders (HPL) programme facilitates participants' development in making quality improvements and innovations to the patient experience while developing their own leadership potential. Alongside this the Senior Leaders Development strand challenges aspirant directors across all disciplines in the commissioning and provision of health care. Together the programmes create a community of leaders, who are self-managed learners, successful coaches and developers of their services and teams.
The content and methodology of the programme has evolved to keep pace with the reforms and reconfigurations of today's NHS. The programme also includes mentoring and support from NHS South Central's CEOs and directors.
This unique partnership has helped more than 200 leaders realise their individual potential and in turn enabled them to unlock potential in those they lead.
Hear from delegates and programme leaders on this development programme >
Maidstone: Preparing clinicians for leadership roles
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust commissioned The King's Fund to provide a leadership development programme with the aim of encouraging clinicians to take on leadership roles and giving them the skills to lead effectively.
The programme has been running for three years with over 40 clinicians taking part, and has evolved, working in partnership with the Trust to develop the structure of the programme in order to best suit the needs of the organisation and changing agendas in the sector. Each programme has taken approximately 12-15 participants through a seven day programme exploring areas such as understanding self, emotional intelligence, conflict and collaboration and understanding and working with power.
The programme has seen many successes, most noticeably in helping participants to gain new perspectives and skills to deal with complex issues in the workplace. Developing a coaching approach within the programme has allowed individuals to bring real life issues into the programme and explore them in a number of ways that has helped them to develop new strategies to take back into the organisation.
Going forward, we are constantly seeking to ensure the programme remains relevant to the changing environment in order to give participants the skills and knowledge they need to meet the complex challenges ahead.
NHS North West: Business critical roles
The North West Leadership Academy (NWLA) commissioned The King's Fund to provide a leadership development programme for leaders in business critical roles in all sectors of the health economy in the North West. The NWLA is a membership organisation whose members comprise 90 per cent of the NHS trusts in the North West region. Nominations were split between practising clinicians and managers, to create the maximum opportunities for networking, sharing good practice and building a community of practice amongst clinical and managerial leaders in the region.
Phase 1 of the programme began with a series of two-day modules focused on individual leadership skills, styles and approaches. This was followed by a further series of morning master classes and afternoon experiential workshops held across the region. Expert speakers at the master class sessions included the vice-president of BT Global, MPs, the chief executive of the NHS North West and Anna Dixon. In total, 200 managers completed the programme, gaining knowledge and skills in key areas such as resilience, leading change, and managing the media and communications.
Following the success of the first phase of the programme, a second phase was commissioned. Although some participants on Phase One have since changed jobs or moved on from their nominating trust, still a total of 160 people have committed to this second phase, which follows a similar format of modules, master classes and workshops. In this phase, workshop titles include governance, finance and innovation, whilst master class experts are again drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors, speaking on topics such as leading integration and leading with integrity.
The format of the programme – which supports a large number of participants with opportunities for individual and group learning and encourages the formation of learning networks and cross-organisational and professional learning – has also been adapted for a third programme, specifically aimed at the leadership development needs of those in business critical roles in new commissioning consortia.
Participants in the programme have reported increased confidence in facing the challenges of delivering transformational change across the North West in coming months as a consequence of learning leadership skills, developing an awareness of the strengths of their own leadership style and building networks with other leaders in the health system. Asked to describe the programme in three words, one clinical leader said simply 'Get on it!'
