If Clinically-led is the Answer, Kill It Swiftly & Remorselessly When you examine the performance of Trusts in our current system, you can’t help but notice that the majority of financially stable acute providers are clinically- or service-led. Admittedly it’s a very small group, but then so is the number of Trusts that can claim … Continued

In the first part of this 2-part explanation of the importance of chronology in transformation, we examined transformation first by splitting it into 3 distinct forms, so that we could understand the chronological relationship of those forms. On closer examination, it becomes patently obvious why Trusts are constantly fire-fighting when they have not undertaken the … Continued

There is a very real and worrying common reality emerging across the Acute Trust sector, in that many are facing concurrent deficit positions and/ or declining financial health, coupled to variable or declining clinical quality. Whether we have a system sliding  towards financial failure or clinical failure (or both) and whether one is a worse … Continued

This week saw one of the most interesting events of recent times take place. No, it definitely wasn’t the Conservative Party Conference but the issuance of a notice by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust to West Midlands GPs announcing that it will no longer accept out-of-area referrals for secondary care that could be done … Continued

Party season is upon us. No, not festive parties but political ones. With those, especially in sight of a general election, comes a stark illustration of the importance of collaboration in leadership and a difficult lesson about what it might take to produce a win-win solution. More importantly, this week’s competitive posturing suggests that not … Continued

This article is provocative but necessary, dealing with an emerging NHS issue that falls under the cloak of politically correctness but inside of which is a brewing catastrophe that will touch every service in the land. I’m describing it using the Ebola story in illustration but make no mistake this is a UK crisis coming … Continued

This week saw the release of the final report by the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England, an initiative sponsored by The King’s Fund and led by a respected economist, Dame Kate Barker CBE. Having expended considerable effort in calling for greater debate on the sustainability of our health and … Continued

Trust and confidence is perhaps the singularly most important personal attribute of successful transformational leadership. If people trust you and have confidence in you then they’ll most likely listen to you, give your ideas the time of day and support your attempts to create performance, change and improvement. But what happens when that trust is … Continued

With an increased focus on integration, collaborative working and new relationships, maybe the time is right to ask ourselves a rather fundamental question and then consider the implications of what might be an uncomfortable answer. That question is: “What is the purpose of a hospital?” Download Now