Leadership in the NHS

What can the NHS teach us about leadership?

The NHS (National Health Service) is one of Britain’s great institutions. It’s the biggest employer in the UK. And so you’d expect them to know a little bit about leadership. Fortunately, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah-Jane Marsh tonight at the Alliance Manchester Business School. She was giving the annual Teddy Chester lecture.

Sarah is National Director of Urgent and Emergency Care and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, NHS England. Previously she was CEO at Birmingham Children's Hospital. And during the pandemic, she was Director of Testing at NHS Test and Trace.

So what did we learn?

• Training works best in cross functional teams.

• Leadership development should not be a one off.

• Mentoring and coaching very important.

• You’ve never done enough.

Sarah’s closing comments reflected her desire to regulate management as a profession. To describe what good looks like and and being very clear about what poor looks like.