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Common language for both clinicians and managers is absolutely essential. In the leadership context it is not the medical supremacy or manager supremacy. For true leaders irrespective of clinical or management background it should always be patient supremacy. It is also wrong to consider anyone is untouchable be it a doctor, clinical director or medical director or Chief Executive or the Chairman of the Trust. When it comes to patient safety and quality no one should be untouchable and that includes the Medical Director or CEO and everyone must be accountable.

It is not only important to get the common language for both clinicians and managers but it is important to get the whole language around NHS right. NHS must always be for the patients, with the patients and by the patients and everyone else and everything else must be secondary to this fundamental ethos. Patient safety and quality is not for compromise and for that we need excellent safety culture, good leadership be it medical, nursing or management leadership, mutual trust and respect, good team working, good governance and quality assurance systems with full patient and public involvement and engagement.

Sadly these supremacies, untouchables, bulling leaders, disorganised teams, ‘them and us’ cultures and poor leadership, club cultures and old boys’ network and so on comes in the way of getting these simple basics right and that results in the challenges which we face day in and day out in our NHS and sadly poor patients are in the middle of these.