Leading through Covid-19: supporting health and care leaders in unprecedented times

In a fast-moving environment with many competing demands, how can leaders find the time and space to slow down? (3-minute read)

How we frame situations for ourselves and those we lead, and the ability to change that framing, is key to overcoming the challenges that we've faced during the pandemic. (3-minute read)

We spoke to Fatima Khan-Shah, Patient Leader and Partnership Lead for the Unpaid Carers Programme, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, about why it's so important to prioritise self care during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) crisis. (3-minute video)

Health and care staff are experiencing a range of emotions as lockdown lifts. How can leaders support staff through this next phase of the Covid-19 pandemic? (3-minute read)

We spoke to Don Berwick to ask him how leaders can take care of themselves and their teams during this crisis. (3-minute video)

What are you afraid of losing as the pandemic unfolds? We have summarised four strategies for surviving and managing our anxiety about loss, which may be useful to you and your teams. (4-minute read)

While many people are working at full stretch during the current crisis, some people may be experiencing boredom. But what does this feeling tell us and how could we use it to good effect? (3-minute read)

We spoke to Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, about how leaders can make decisions in difficult circumstances during the Covid-19 crisis. (3-minute video)

We asked Ian Bullock, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Physicians, about how leaders can find solutions in complex situations. (2-minute video)

The practice of restorative self-care among leaders is hugely important for sustaining energy and building resilience. (3-minute read)

Leadership is about relationships, not being a superhero. We've set out five key points to keep in mind that can help support you and your team to retain your collective strength. (3-minute read)

At a time when many leaders and clinical staff are under enormous pressure, taking time to notice and reflect on your own breathing can help to anchor you in your leadership role. (3-minute read)

At a time of immense pressure on both the health and care system and on individuals – and when everything is changing so fast – how can you find space to think about how you are leading? (3-minute read)

How can leaders approach decision-making when the challenges they face seem so intractable and the context so uncertain? (2-minute read)

We spoke to Dr Afsana Safa, a GP in Westminster, about remote patient monitoring and bringing a customer-first approach to health care during the pandemic. (4-minute video)

We spoke to Matt Bowsher, Director of Adult Social Care at Dudley Council, about the importance of imperfection, learning as you go and scheduled downtime as a team. (4-minute video)

We spoke to April Kyle, President and CEO of Southcentral Foundation, Alaska, about how to partner with communities through Covid-19 and beyond. (5-minute video)

We spoke to Dr Yasmin Razak, a GP partner in North Kensington and Clinical Director of Neohealth Primary Care Network, about leadership in general practice during the Covid-19 pandemic. (4-minute video)

By supporting colleagues through their experiences of loss, we can help to build important relationships for the future. (3-minute read)

We spoke to Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, about the importance of psychological safety in health and care. (3-minute watch)

As teams and individuals experience change as a result of Covid-19, we look at how leaders can support teams to stay motivated and move forward. (3-minute read)

We spoke to Carolyn Otley, Community Resilience Coordinator at Cumbria CVS about what has kept communities resilient through the multiple waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. (4 minute video)

We spoke to Dr Navina Evans, Chief Executive of the East London Foundation Trust, about the importance of nurturing as a leader. (2-minute video)

We spoke to Jo Davies, CEO at WILD Young Parents' Project, to hear how the pandemic has shone a spotlight on health inequalities and impacted young families and their mental health in Cornwall. (4-minute video)

Leading a team virtually presents new challenges, even for seasoned leaders. Here we look at some ideas for building and strengthening virtual teams. (4-minute read)

We have been listening to leaders across the health and care system about their experiences during the Covid-19 crisis. Here we look at how people feel as result of these experiences and how acknowledging these feelings can help people regain strength and focus. (4-minute read)

In this video Saffron Cordery, Deputy Chief Executive at NHS Providers, shares how leaders can support staff wellbeing during the second wave of Covid-19.  (4-minute video)

When people are stressed and anxious, creating a shared, safe space to keep thinking and to maintain and develop relationships with colleagues is important. We have developed some suggestions for having virtual conversations. (3-minute read)

We spoke to Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, about the importance of teaming in health and care. (2-minute video)

We spoke to Michael West, Visiting Fellow at The King's Fund about why compassion is key to looking after colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic. (3-minute video)

Covid-19 has meant people who don’t know each other are coming together to tackle complex and urgent challenges. How can people work together and support each other effectively in these circumstances? (3-minute read)

Leading virtually can seem challenging, but a few basic technical and human skills will help you to engage with colleagues and ensure your virtual meetings are productive. (4-minute read)

We spoke to Prerana Issar, the Chief People Officer for the NHS, to ask her why leadership is so important during the Covid-19 crisis. (5-minute video)

In this video, Clare Bonetree, a disabled artist and activist based in Manchester, shares how she organised a group of disabled people to discuss and share their skills and expertise in how to maintain their wellbeing during lockdown. (3-minute video)

How can leaders support the wellbeing of volunteers, now and in the future? (3-minute read)

How can leaders enable the development of a learning culture? Here, we share four tips for learning from the experiences of the first months of Covid-19. (4-minute read)

Responding to the Covid-19 crisis has been a cycle of understanding, reviewing, adapting, taking action – and starting again. How can leaders respond to this challenge? (4-minute read)

We spoke to Sharon Allen, Chief Executive at Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, about how they've been managing across the system during the pandemic. (4-minute video)

It’s time to re-think our ideas about leadership and adopt learning cultures that will lead to better care and a fairer society, says Sam Allen, CEO of Sussex Partnership Trust.

Health services have changed beyond recognition in response to the Covid-19 crisis. How do we capture the learning from these changes? (2-minute read)

We spoke to Nadia Bukhari, Academic Pharmacist, UCL, about the role of pharmacists during Covid-19.

James Bullion discusses the key tools that can be used to help tackle social justice issues in the social care sector. (6-minute video)

Lesley Flatley reflects on her experiences of leading in isolation, as a manager in an independent care home, during the Covid-19 crisis. (4-minute read)

The Covid-19 crisis has meant multiple organisations working together to address a shared challenge. But how can we become better at cross-sector co-ordination? (3-minute read)

We spoke to Sue Nightingale, Chief Medical Officer at Canterbury District Health Board, about how the health system in New Zealand has responded to Covid-19. (2-minute video)

In a time of crisis, it is common to rely on command and control management approaches. So, how can we move away from this to create systems that combine both discipline and agility when responding to extreme events?  (4-minute read)

When the world is changing, how can leaders help their teams to adapt to changing circumstances? We hear from Don Berwick. (2-minute video)

John James OBE, chief executive of the Sickle Cell Society, reflects on the challenges the organisation has faced during the Covid-19 pandemic and shares what he has learnt and what gives him hope for the future. (2-minute read)

We spoke to Jatinder Harchowal, Director of Pharmacy at London’s Nightingale Hospital, about creating a common purpose and a supportive culture. (3-minute video)

More than one million workers in more than 400 councils have been helping to keep essential services running across UK during the Covid-19 crisis. Here, 15 council leaders share their top tips for leading in this challenging time. (4-minute read)

Richard Murray explains how, through these pages, The King’s Fund and others are aiming to provide support to health and care leaders and how we'll be guided by what you tell us is needed. (2-minute read)

We have developed a graphic as a quick reference version of the guide created by the COVID Trauma Response Working Group. (4-minute read)

We have brought together some resources providing practical tools and information to support the mental health and wellbeing of health and care workers during the Covid-19 crisis. (3-minute read)

Responding to Covid-19 (93922) Deborah Fenney and Lillie Wenzel reflect on what heath and care leaders have told The King’s Fund about the challenges they are currently facing and outline how we’re using this to shape our Leading through Covid-19 resources. (3-minute read)