The NLC aims to champion the transformation of leadership across the NHS and ensure that world-class leadership talent and development exists at every level of the system. Chaired by NHS chief executive David Nicholson, the NLC focuses on five key areas, including:

• clinical leadership
• board development
• top leaders
• inclusion 
• emerging leaders. 

Steve Barnett, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, was one of the first to be selected to sit on the Council as a permanent member. At the first meeting in April, he was robust in saying that the Council should avoid central prescription and focus on taking forward work that can only be done at a national level and supporting organisations with creating the right local conditions for leadership development to take root.

Most recent meeting

The National Leadership Council (NLC)'s November meeting discussed the key leadership challenges arising from regional talent and leadership plans, ideas for a NLC annual report and spring 2010 NHS Leadership Day. The council also received an update on the Top Leaders Programme and the board development, clinical leadership, emerging leaders and inclusion workstreams.

Find out more below and on the National Leadership Council website.

Top Leaders Programme

The National Leadership Council is developing a Top Leaders Programme to ensure a good supply of candidates for the toughest and most complex jobs in the NHS. The NLC is working with NHS organisations to ‘co-produce’ the programme’s leadership outcomes.

The NLC wants to ensure that it supports and develops those leaders who currently have senior roles in the country’s most complex and challenging organisations as well as identifying and developing their likely successors. It wants to increase the capability and capacity in the system so that for each of these difficult roles there will be a good supply of candidates. The Programme also aims to support a cultural change among the most senior leaders, who themselves will spot and cultivate potential leaders.

Key milestones

The Programme will work with a cohort of approximately 1000 of the NHS’ most senior leaders. The key steps in developing the Programme are:

·        Consult NHS on identifying the most complex NHS organisations (approx 50)

·        Identify the most senior and critical roles in those organisations (approx 250)

·        Identify a pipeline of future successors (approx 750)

·        Finalise the cohort of 1000 senior leaders

·        Design and commission a bespoke Top Leaders Programme with those senior leaders.

NHS leadership awards

The winners of the inaugural NHS Leadership Awards 2009 were announced on 25 November in a ceremony hosted by NHS Chief Executive, David Nicholson.

The Awards, presented to winners in seven categories, recognise the important of leadership in the NHS. Over 700 nominations were received from all levels and disciplines of the NHS.

The awards and their winners were:

NHS Leader of the Year – Patrick Geoghegan, South Essex Partnership University NHS Trust

NHS Innovator of the Year – Jan Kovac, University Hospitals of Leicester and Stephen Smith, Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre

NHS Mentor of the Year – Laweh Amegavie, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Quality Champion of the Year – Adrian Hopper, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Change Leader of the Year – Roland Valori, National Endoscopy Team, East Midlands SHA

NHS Partner of the Year – Calderdale Safer Roads Group, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Award for Inspiration – Tricia Hart, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The awards scheme aims to recognise outstanding leaders at every level of the NHS and is aligned to the National Leadership Council (NLC). For more details see the NHS Leadership Awards website.

The awards will precede NHS Leadership Day, due to take place early in 2010.