Neil Goodwin
Neil Goodwin is a director of GoodwinHannah and visiting professor of leadership studies at Manchester Business School.
Recent activity
Blog Posts (31)
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The Short-Termism of Acquisition
The acquisition of ‘challenged’ trusts will offer a quick managerial fix but it won’t necessarily create strategically sustainable services and the operational problems that precipitated acquisition in the first place may well reoccur.
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The dilemma of appointing senior managers
Sir David Nicholson’s admission to the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry that in retrospect the previous chief executive was the wrong appointment highlights a common dilemma when appointing people at this level.
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Déjà vu
To my surprise and somewhat consternation I find myself once again chief executive of a hospital 17 years after last running one and five years after stepping down as a chief executive. So what's it like?
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The challenge of acquisition
Acquisition is one of the most challenging games currently at play in the NHS. Although there are a few applicable lessons from the private sector, public services demand a more considered approach. Understanding exactly why one organisation is interested in wanting to take over another is a good starting point.
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The lost opportunity to review management
While the listening panel goes about its business and Number 10 takes a closer interest in the NHS, a golden opportunity to realign NHS management has been missed. Wouldn’t it be good if management requirements anticipated the future rather than reacted to the present?
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Comments (11)
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Comment on: Mid Staffs inquiry hears calls for regulation of managers
It's perhaps not surprising use of the code isn't well known given the sensitivity of investigations into managers and boards. I am aware of the code being used and have found it a reasonable framework as the basis for managerial investigations. Although the code may need tweaking, the issue is more about its application and the embedding of appropriate managerial behaviours.
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Comment on: Leadership needs to be more local than national
Many thanks Sarah, much appreciated. I think the NHS has been slow to understand the balance between national and local for leadership development but hopefully the current reforms will force the point.
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Comment on: SHA and PCT jobs crisis ahead
I think Anonymous (10:48) is being somewhat gratuitous. As a former SHA CE many improvements to the Greater Manchester NHS would not have happened without the hard work of SHA staff and local PCTs. A new neuroscience centre, new children's hospital, investment in new hospitals and better quality-controlled referrals between primary and secondary care are just four examples. Furthermore, service access times nationally are now at an all time low. How quickly we forget past achievements and what the NHS used to be like. We also sometimes forget that it's part of a wider system in which education, other public services, the third sector and politics all play a part. The real test of the future system will be no different to that of the past and present systems. Will the new GP commissioners act strategically and by so doing be prepared to take challenging decisions to enhance the quality and safety of services for patients and communities? I agree that the contribution and achievements of managers - of all disciplines - should be acknowledged. I see a strong role here for the NHS Confederation in leading that process in its discussions with government.
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Comment on: Politics reopens the age-old leadership question
Very interesting comments above. Thank you. I think we may be confusing the principles of how the NHS should delivered (government policy) versus how it should be managed and delivered. Whatever the system (whether market or not), it has to be led and managed professionally with the direct involvement and leadership of clinicians of all disciplines. And whatever we think of targets and their imperfections they have delivered the single biggest improvement in access to services for patients. The principles of leadership are the same whatever system underpins the NHS and whoever is delivering leadership, whether managers or clinicians. And is there really such a thing as professional autonomy? All professionals (doctors, other clinicians, lawyers, accountants, etc) have multi-faceted accountability - to their professional body, to their patients or clients, to their employers, etc. I don't think the current operating structure of the NHS is anti-professional. I do however think that the most successful managers (and therefore organisational cultures) are those who fully engage with clinical staff and recognise that the managerial role is to understand their service and its future development, support them in service delivery, and provide organisational and system-wide leadership so that clincial leaders can strategically develop services within and beyond the organisation's boundaries. I hope this helps.
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Comment on: Politics reopens the age-old leadership question
Thanks for the above comment. It always interests me that we receive so many anonymous comments on HSJ blogs sites. I wouldn't have thought that commenting on leadership would be seen as so contentious? But no matter, all comments are equally interesting. I don't know what leadership is if it isn't about vision and aspiration and how to achieve them. Perhaps I'm missing something (and I'm always happy to admit when I do) but isn't the 'vision thing' the bit that a lot of leaders - including political ones - struggle with? And, as an example, isn't this one reason why the election appears to be so wide open at the moment - where's the compelling vision? Maybe sometimes we do approach leadership in a pseudo-intellectual way but isn't this because we like to think it's more complicated than it actually is? Perhaps we prefer to talk about it and constantly try to re-define it rather than generate a bit of perspiration by getting down to it and tweaking it as we go along?
