Leadership - other support
Policy and reports
This section includes key strategic and standard documents which shape the current policy framework for clinical governance. The items below are specific to leadership. For the overarching national standards and strategies please refer to the four country overviews - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The documents are listed in date order. The most recent publications appear at the top of the list.
Some of the resources on this page are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.
Leadership and engagement for improvement in the NHS (2012)
This King's Fund report makes the case for engaging staff, patients and boards and for building relationships across systems of care. "To make engagement a reality requires action at all levels, from the NHS Commissioning Board to the teams delivering care for patients. It also requires commitment to training and development of clinical staff in leadership skills from early in their careers. The unifying vision for every leader should be engaging for improvement with a clear focus on improving patient care and population health outcomes."
What's leadership got to do with it? Exploring links between quality improvement and leadership in the NHS (2011)
This Health Foundation report presents a detailed account of a two-year study which involved an in-depth evaluation of the Health Foundation's leadership programme including an exploration of the links between leadership and quality improvement (QI). It contains insights into how leadership development can support QI in the NHS and provides new ways of understanding the nature of this improvement work.
Connecting diversity with leadership (2010)
This briefing brings together evidence from within the NHS and externally to support trusts and their leaders to use their roles to embed diversity within their organisations and effectively respond to the current regulatory climate.
Productive Leader Executive Leader Guide (2010)
A resource for leaders wanting to learn more about how to improve quality, drive efficiency and spread best practice throughout the organisation.
Putting quality first in the boardroom (2010)
This report from the King's Fund and the Burdett Trust for Nursing set out to ‘bring the ward to the board’, emphasising the role of the nurse executive in ensuring that boards are as fully engaged with the clinical quality agenda as they are with financial performance. Building on the findings of From Ward to Board, this report is based on observations of nurse executives and their boards at six NHS trusts. It examines why clinical quality has the potential to be marginalised in the boardroom, and considers the dynamics of the boardroom and the role of the nurse executive.
Future of leadership (2009) (PDF 417.9KB)
This report is based on interviews with members of NHS Confederation and other health leaders and explores two important questions: what are the real issues with NHS leadership and what solutions can best be provided by central or regional action.
Inspiring leaders: leadership for quality (2009)
This Department of Health guidance outlines a systematic approach to talent and leadership planning. It aims to help strategic health authorities design their own leadership development plans.
Leading is engaging (2008)
The Department of Health's Director General of Workforce, Clare Chapman talks about the importance of leadership and engagement in the NHS.
Our health, our care, our community - investing in the future of community hospitals and services (2006)
This Department of Health document expands on the 'Our Health, our care, our say' commitment to develop a new generation of community hospitals and facilities, including the process for gaining access to capital funding.
A picture of health. How the NHS in Wales could look in 2015 (2005) (PDF 729.6KB)
This document is made available on the Welsh NHS Confederation website and presents a vision of what the health service will look like in Wales in 2015 with "Where the future is already happening" examples and case studies.
Building a health service fit for the future (2005)
A Scottish Executive and NHS Scotland report on the future of the NHS in Scotland. This is a national framework for service change which provides a policy context as well as a plan of action. "The NHS in Scotland and the public must work hand in hand in order to deliver a health service that is fit for the future". A number of key recommendations and proposals are outlined.
Building a health service fit for the future. Volume 2 A guide for the NHS (2005)
A Scottish Executive and NHS Scotland report on the future of the NHS in Scotland. This second volume is a guide for the NHS and covers; what do patients expect, drivers for change, shifting the balance of care, self care, carers, volunteering and the voluntary sector, tackling health inequalities, access to care, care designed to deliver better outcomes, new ways to deliver rural health care, a health service fit for children, collaborative and integrated care and information and communications technology.
Caring for people beyond tomorrow - a strategic framework for the development of primary health and social care for individuals, families and communities in Northern Ireland (2005)
This framework is made available on Northern Ireland's Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) website. 'Caring for people beyond tomorrow' sets out a vision for primary care services in Northern Ireland over the next twenty years, and the goals and objectives to achieve this.
Clinical governance and risk management: Achieving safe, effective, patient-focused care and services (2005)
The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) 'Standards for clinical governance & risk management' came into effect from November 2005. They were developed to support NHSScotland to put in place the necessary systems and processes to ensure that safe and effective care and services are delivered across the country. They are designed to ensure that NHS Boards in Scotland have clinical governance and risk management arrangements in place to support the delivery of safe, effective, patient-focused care and services.
Commissioning a patient-led NHS (2005)
This Department of Health document builds on the 'NHS Improvement Plan' and 'Creating a patient-led NHS'. It focuses on creating changes in the way services are commissioned by front-line staff to reflect patient choices.
Creating a patient-led NHS. Delivering the NHS Improvement Plan (2005)
This Department of Health document sets out how the NHS and the Department of Health will deliver the NHS Improvement Plan. It describes the major changes underway and how some of the biggest changes will be carried forward for a patient-led health service.
Delivering choosing health: making health choices easier (2005)
This delivery plan, published by the Department of Health in March 2005, outlines how the commitments identified in the public health white paper 'Choosing health' will be delivered at national, regional and local level across all sectors. It identifies key interventions and best practice - 'big wins' - that are most likely to improve health.
Delivering for Health (2005)
Published by the Scottish Government in November 2005, this programme describes in practical terms what action Scotland will take to turn their vision of the health service into reality. It builds on the National Framework for Service Change to provide a template for the future NHS Scotland.
Designed for life. Creating world class health and social care for Wales in the 21st century (2005) (PDF 474KB)
'Designed for life' sets out the Welsh Assembly Government's health and social care services and health improvement in Wales. The vision will be delivered through a series of strategic frameworks; redesigning care, delivering higher standards, and ensuring full engagement. Each framework has a schedule of key milestones.
Healthcare standards for Wales. Making the connections designed for life (2005)
The Welsh Assembly Government's healthcare standards promote a framework for care based on shared values that can be adopted universally, across the full range of services provided by or for the NHS in Wales, no matter what the setting. They establish a basis for continuous improvement and will help simplify the current complicated array of standards and guidance on healthcare organisations over time.
Supporting people with long term conditions (2005)
Published by the Department of Health, the NHS and social care long term conditions model will "help ensure health and social care organisations take an overall structured and systematic approach to improving the care of those with long term conditions". The model draws on existing successes and innovations from the NHS and social care and international experience to help local health communities to develop a more integrated and systematic approach.
A healthier future. A twenty year vision for health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland 2005-2025 (2004)
This strategy document is made available on Northern Ireland's Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) website, and sets out the overall direction of health policy in Northern Ireland. It aims to provide a vision of how health and social services in Northern Ireland will develop and function over the next twenty years. Five cross-cutting themes are identified; investing for health and wellbeing, involving people, teams which deliver, responsiveness and integrated services, and improving quality.
Choosing health: making health choices easier (2004)
A Department of Health White Paper which sets out the key principles for supporting the public to make healthier and more informed choices in regards to their health. It presents the outcomes of the public consultation and describes how the Government will provide information and practical support, and improve access to services so that healthier choices are easier to make.
Fair to all, personal to each. The next steps for NHSScotland (2004)
'Fair to all, personal to each' reiterates the fundamental principles of healthcare in Scotland, outlining progress to date in key areas including staffing, delivery of services, listening to patients the patient experience and primary care; This Scottish Government paper introduces specific plans to tackle waiting, and points to further work on specialised NHS services, on clean hospitals, and on performance management of the NHS.
National standards, local action. Health and social care standards and planning framework 2005/6 - 2007/8. (2004)
This Department of Health document sets out a standard-based planning framework for health and social care and standards for NHS health care to be used in planning, commissioning and delivering services. It covers the core and development standards covering NHS health care and the health and social care planning framework and targets for 2005-2008.
Standards for better health (2004)
The Department of Health's publication 'Standards for Better Health' describes the level of quality that healthcare organisations, including NHS Foundation Trusts, and private and voluntary providers of NHS care, will be expected to meet in terms of safety; clinical and cost effectiveness; governance; patient focus; accessible and responsive care; care environment and amenities; and public health. There is a duty on every NHS body (including foundation trusts) to take them into account in establishing, running and commissioning services.
Building on the best: Choice, responsiveness and equity in the NHS (2003)
This Department of Health strategy paper sets out how the Government will make NHS services more responsive to patients, by offering more choice across the spectrum of healthcare. Its main aim is to improve patient and user experience and build new partnerships between those who use health and social care and those who work in them.
Wales: a better country (2003)
This document sets out the strategic agenda of the Welsh Asssembly Government.
NHS Plan: a plan for investment, a plan for reform (2000)
The Department of Health's NHS Plan set out the vision for a health service designed around the patient and describes the programme for investment and reform. The document outlines a new delivery system and the changes that will be required to achieve this - changes for staff and patients, and changes in the relationship between health and social care and between the NHS and the private sector.