Following on from yesterday’s blog I’d like to share a brief thought: All problems / challenges in healthcare are actually leadership problems. Patient safety (yes), recruitment and retention (yes), financial planning (yes), quality and innovation (yes), and so on. All of these issues can be addressed by a culture of good leadership fostered by good […]
The thing that all problems in healthcare have in common… Read More »
Over recent weeks I’ve been digging into the literature on change management, both as an academic and as an independent consultant. I always enjoy this topic, and when combined with my experience within healthcare leadership and management it’s a area I’m comfortable in sharing the themes and key concepts. Partly because these concepts and themes
Morale is the thermometer of leadership, culture is the thermostat. Read More »
Freedom to function effectively; Support from peers and leaders; Clear expectations of the work environment; Appropriate resources to practice effectively; and An open organisational culture. (Porter-O’Grady 1986).
The five conditions necessary for a professional practice environment: Read More »
Six million and counting For the first time in two years this week’s newspaper healthcare headlines focused on something other than Covid-19 (technically speaking, but it’s a start.) Of course i’m talking about the NHS waiting list in England surpassing six million people (i Newspaper 11/2/2022) up from 4.7 million people in April last year
The Sunday Long Read – NHS waiting lists Read More »
Over the next few weeks a couple of long term goals of mine will take shape and go from idea to reality. I’m pleased to have got this far, and excited for what happens next. As Wayne Gretzky said, ‘you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ Dean is a Registered Mental Health Nurse,
The only way to begin moving forward is to take the first step…. Read More »
This week is National Apprenticeship Week (I know it’s a busy week given yesterday’s blog post.) My good friend and ex-colleague Suzanne Smith (Apprenticeship Manager at Cygnet Health Care) asked me to write about apprenticeships and who am I to resist such a noble cause? I’ll start off by offering my thoughts of how healthcare
This week is Children’s mental health week https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk. I began my registered nursing career working in an admission and treatment Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Hospital, and i’ve also managed a NHS community CAMHS team so I have a reasonable grasp of the challenges and complexity within this provision of mental health services. In
Children’s Mental Health Week Read More »
Giving and receiving feedback is an essential part of building a successful career. Whether the feedback is positive or negative it is important to ensure that it is done professionally, tactfully, and with good intentions. I’ve seen many managers and employees get this wrong and it usually ends in the severing of the relationship eventually.
The value of feedback Read More »
I spent some time with a consulting client of mine recently and we were discussing situations where things had gone wrong or had not gone to plan in relation to service-user risk. He asked for me to share some experiences that I’ve had of such times (many), and I explained what I did about them.
It’s okay, when things aren’t okay. So long as you have a plan… Read More »
Last week I invited a friend over to my house for coffee and a catch up. My friend is in his sixties, and has been a nurse longer than I have been alive. He is a dual registered adult and mental health nurse and incredibly well read. Our conversation (as it often does) turned to
Nursing Lessons from the past aka ‘why I won’t be giving up my old nursing books’. Read More »