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The Clinical Leadership Program

The Clinical Leadership Program

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Program Overview

Background

Strategies for sustainable patient safety and system improvement are dependent on strong clinical leadership capabilities. ‘Clinical Leadership’ occurs at all levels of patient care and refers to:

the process of leading a set of activities that improve the delivery of safe clinical care, and
the set of attributes required to lead a team, unit, stream or cluster.

Beginning in November 2007 is the second cycle of the Clinical Leadership Programs. Applications to the 2007-2008 Programs are now closed.

Program participation

The Clinical Leadership Program (modular and state-wide) is being evaluated and a continued program for 2008 – 2009 and beyond is under review. Program updates will be posted on this website as new programs are offered.

The statewide program will be delivered within Area Health Services by local facilitators. There will be five learning modules presented as 6 FTE days over the 12 months. This multidisciplinary program uses a structured experiential development approach and will particularly suit nursing, midwifery, allied health and ambulance officers. Medical officers who are leading a clinical team may also join this program.

The program aims to enhance the capacity of clinicians to lead sustainable system improvement and patient safety initiatives; to work more effectively with available clinical information and resources; and to develop a culture of patient-centred care within an environment that supports work based learning.

or email: clps@cec.health.nsw.gov.au

The second twelve month program will be delivered in Sydney and will comprise mostly 2-day modules, with some residential components. This program will target senior medical clinicians. It will also be open to senior allied health and nursing clinicians, and to executives and senior managers accompanied by a clinician.

The modular program aims to enhance:

the understanding of clinicians about the workings of NSW Health
knowledge of contemporary approaches to patient safety and clinical quality systems
the skills of clinicians in relation to communication, conflict resolution and team leadership within an environment of health care resource limitation
the ability of clinicians to influence the direction of health policy, and
personal and professional clinical leadership skills.

Participants in both the statewide and modular programs will bring a clinical challenge from their Health Service role to work on throughout the program.

The Modular Clinical Leadership Program, Class of 2007

Everyone was positive. "Eye-opening", "valuable collaboration", "time well spent". Some of the quotes from the 31 graduates of the modular Clinical Leadership Program offered for the first time this year by the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC).

Participants from all over the NSW health system embarked on intensive study across six weekends to improve their leadership knowledge and capabilities. The course aims to achieve significant improvements in the delivery of health care.

CEC's CEO Prof Cliff Hughes identified the need for a clinical leadership program.

"Many clinicians have been aware of the increasing ‘disconnect' between management and the clinicians themselves, not only in this country, but around the world. That leads to increasing tensions in the delivery of health care. We felt the best way to address this was to give clinicians a way in which they can understand the management issues around health and actually provide more informed leadership than was possible in the past", he explained.

"On the final day clinicians presented the results of health systems projects from their local environment. They were ingenious, they were relevant and they'd achieved some amazing outcomes.

"They all felt that the negotiation sessions and discussions around the difference between power and influence were the most valuable. They were given useful advice on how to engage people and lead teams.

"They all felt that they'd now got a cohort of collaborators they could ring and talk to about issues, having gone back to their own hospitals and areas.

"People who had felt that the system was too hard to shift were actually making positive changes, liberating resources and doing things smarter, not necessarily harder."

CLP Class of 2007
L to R standing: Michael Datyner (SW), Chris Milross (SSW), Mary Mitchelhill (CEC), Neil Berry (SSW), Alan Tankel (NC), Alan Forrester (NC), Randall Greenberg (GW), Bruce French (SSW), Geoffrey Ramin (NC), John Erikson (NSCC), Louis Christie (GW), Michael McGlynn (SESI), Paul Craven (HNE), Michael Boyle (HNE), Jonny Taitz (SESI), John Christie (HNE), Steven Allnut (J), Steven Katz (SESI), Warwick Benson (SW), Paul Summers (SW), Barry Elison (SESI). L to R seated: Anne Greer (NSCC), Liz Mitchell (NSCC), Jan McCaig (NSCC), Liz Mullins (facilitator), Cliff Hughes (CEC), Bernie Harrison (CEC), Fran Gearon (GW), Lyn Currie (GS), Kate Needham (GMCT). In absentia: Olumuyiwa Komolafe (GW), John Lambert (GW), Virginia Noel (J), John Powers (SSW), David Williams (HNE).