The NHS Confederation believes high quality leadership is a pre-requisite of our modern healthcare system. Modern health care is so complex and such large sums of money are spent on it that management and leadership are crucial to the effectiveness of the NHS. Importantly, evidence shows good management makes for better healthcare outcomes.

Evidence also shows better clinical outcomes are produced when clinicians apply managerial skills in their work. We want to see clinical involvement in leadership and management at every level - from frontline services to top level management. Where clinicians are not involved in management, NHS organisations have been known to get into severe difficulties.

The issue of leadership in the NHS has become all the more pressing with the move to a health system based on market incentives and with the stress on the patient as consumer. The shift of power to local organisations has also highlighted the quality of management.

Our current work includes looking behind the image of middle management as the weak link and finding out exactly who middle managers are and what they do. The Confederation work with the Joint Consultants' Committee on the future reformed NHS will also include a major strand on leadership.

Another key part of our work is challenging the media myth of an army of costly managers taking over the NHS. As well as continuing to make our point in the public debate, leadership is key to our work on public confidence in the NHS.

How we involve our members

We actively work with members to capture ideas on leadership. We hold specific seminars and meetings to inform our policy positions - invitations either appear in our email bulletin Interchange Alert or are sent out individually.

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