Dalton downplays talk of 'superheads'

When the Department of Health launched the Dalton Review earlier this year, it said Sir David would look into “how the NHS can make better use of its best existing leaders, so called ‘superheads’”.

These could “spread the highest standards for patients across the system by taking on struggling organisations or establishing national networks of NHS hospitals”, the DH said in a statement.

The term is borrowed from education, where it refers to talented headteachers parachuted into underperforming schools to turn them around.

But speaking to HSJ last week, Sir David insisted: “I don’t believe single heroic leadership - as in the superheads model - is the issue at play here. I think that’s far too simple, and inappropriate in the healthcare setting.” 

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In well-led organisations, he said, leadership was “distributed”. This meant while there might be an excellent leader at the top, there would also be excellent leaders all the way through the organisation.

He was interested in looking at how it was possible to get the characteristics of well-led organisations spread to others.

Sir David explained: “I don’t think this is about parachuting in individual leaders into troubled organisations and believing that single heroic leadership is what’s needed. Leadership, I think, is a crucial element of successful organisations, but it is an element.

“This [review] is looking at organisations that are well led, rather than this being to do with a single leader, an individual who will ride the white charger and go turn around a troubled organisation.” 

Asked if he thought the “superheads” characterisation was unhelpful, he said: “I think it’s useful to stimulate people’s thinking about what could be different, but I think seeing it as vesting success in single heroic leaders is not the way we will change our organisations.”

When the review was launched in February, health secretary Jeremy Hunt said:  “We can also do more to exploit the extraordinary leadership in our best hospitals by making it easy for NHS superheads to take over struggling organisations.  

“Sir David Dalton is one such leader, who with his team has turned the Salford Royal into one of the best hospitals in the country.

“He will advise me what more we need to do to enable our best hospital leaders to take over the running of hospitals in difficulty without compromising the success of their own trusts.”