The must-read stories and debate in health policy and leadership.
Leaders are “only as good as the people in the organisation”, one recently appointed provider chief has told HSJ.
Phil Wood – who took over at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust in February – said: “I think the notion that a single CEO, in an organisation of 22,000 people, can succeed or fail, strikes me as a very kind of outdated model of leadership. Actually, you’re only as good as the people who are in the organisation and will take their own leadership opportunities.
“I think there’s a lot of emphasis placed on the success or failure of the CEO as the individual, rather than thinking about the culture and leadership capabilities in the organisation that they are leading.”
When asked about where this “emphasis” on CEOs came from, Professor Wood said he had “a general audience” in mind – but did cite HSJ as one example.
Leeds is one of a number of large trusts which have either had new chief executives in the past year, or where new CEOs are due to start shortly. These include Royal Free London; Manchester University; University Hospitals Birmingham; and Mid and South Essex.
More problems in maternity
There has been a relentless stream of poor maternity reports coming out of the Care Quality Commission over the last couple of years. But the one on St George’s Hospital in south London would probably rank as among the worst.
Not only did it lead to an “inadequate” rating and a warning notice, it exposed a lack of learning from experience which suggests some deep-seated issues in the organisation.
The department also seemed to have gone its own way in terms of policies and pathways. Incidents were rated inappropriately for level of harm with national guidelines ignored and continuity of care had been continued despite “extreme” staffing issues.
The board didn’t escape its share of responsibility. The CQC said executive leaders were not visible and service leaders “lacked support from the executive team” who seemed not to understand the level of risk in the department.
After so many maternity scandals and reports, it seems hard to believe that maternity services would not be at the top of any board’s agenda.
Also on hsj.co.uk today
This fortnight’s The Integrator takes a closer look at the renewed focus on community services. Meanwhile, NHS England has confirmed it is streamlining the existing set of 10 cancer targets down to three, as was reported earlier in the week. And integrated care system leaders have some concerns that primary care networks may lack “resourcing and maturity”, according to a survey from NHS Confederation’s ICS network.
