A leadership programme by independent sector staff for independent sector staff

Brenda Rushe 2 Nov 2022

Brenda Rushe, Senior Nurse in Professional Practice and Independent Sector Lead for Northern Ireland, discusses setting up a new Leading in a Crisis programme in collaboration with members from the Independent Health and Social Care sector.

One of my goals in setting up the Leading in a Crisis (LIAC) programme was to create a learning opportunity designed specifically for nursing staff in the Independent Health and Social Care (IHSC) sector. Having worked in the IHSC sector myself for 10 years – including 8 years as a Nursing Home Manager – I know from first-hand experience how rare and valuable this kind of opportunity can be.

The LIAC programme was developed in response to the Department of Health’s report ‘The Rapid Learning Initiative into the Transmission of Covid-19 into and within Care Homes in Northern Ireland’, which identified the need for care home staff to enhance their ability to manage effectively during a crisis. A key pillar in our design of the programme was promoting closer collaboration between IHSC staff and Health and Social Care (HSC) staff in Northern Ireland.

From the start, we had key stakeholders inputting into the programme’s design, with members of the RCN Northern Ireland Independent Sector Nurse Managers Network co-creating the content alongside RCN staff. After a successful pilot programme in December 2020, this content was further refined based on feedback from learners who had taken part.

Once we were satisfied that the content was as robust as it could be, we began rolling the programme out across Northern Ireland. Between December 2020 and February 2022, the programme was delivered six times to over 100 delegates, with each cohort taking part in four one-day sessions in a virtual learning environment. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 97 to 100% of participants at each session saying they would recommend the programme to a colleague.

Leading in a Crisis Programme feedback table

Feedback on the LIAC Programme in Northern Ireland

Following the success of the programme in Northern Ireland, we were eager to assess its transferability to the rest of the UK. A four-country pilot was delivered in September and October 2022 to delegates from across England, Wales and Scotland. Feedback was once again overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of participants saying they would recommend the programme to their colleagues.

Now that the transferability of the programme has been proven, we’re hoping to begin rolling it out to more members across the UK. The positive feedback we’ve received so far demonstrates that there’s a real appetite for this kind of learning opportunity among members in the IHSC sector, and I look forward to delivering more of them in the future.