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1.03 Why is medical leadership and management important?
Over the past decade, a number of key reports and documents have emphasised the
need to apply the highest standards of leadership and management to healthcare.
The Francis Report, output of the public inquiry into unacceptable failings in standards of
patient care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, identified the development of an
inappropriate culture as a root cause of the problems. The report called for the
dedicated development of stronger healthcare leadership as an essential element for the
delivery of quality care.
Liberating the NHS, the 2010 Government White Paper which paved the way for the
2013 restructure of the NHS in England, described how ‘Healthcare will be run from the
bottom up, with ownership and decision-making in the hands of professionals and
patients’. The implication is that each stakeholder has a leadership responsibility.
In their foreword to ‘Leadership and management standards for medical professionals’,
the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, (FMLM), point toward evidence
that, ‘Good medical leadership impacts positively at three levels: the patient, the
organisation and the individual’.
Impact of good medical leadership…….
 improved clinical outcomes
 improved quality of experience
 improved patient outcomes
for healthcare  increased productivity
organisations  continual improvement in cost/quality of patient
for patients
care
for individual doctors
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 improved motivation
 improved engagement
 improved productivity