Being a clinical director: first among equals or just a go-between?

Abstract

This article explores doctors' experience of the role of clinical director in a large National Health Service (NHS) teaching Trust. The advent of doctors in management, as a relatively new phenomenon in the NHS, is reviewed to provide a contextual setting for the case study. The empirical findings are presented as a 'clinical diamond' which emerged as a form that captured the multifaceted nature of the role. The research demonstrates that, for a doctor, being a clinical director potentially threatens the professional identity, collegiality and autonomy of both the individual and the professional group the directorate represents. Moreover, stress that emanates from the structural tension inherent in the role is displaced into personal and professional stress. Clinical directors embody the tensions and conflicts of different managerial and professional cultures, whilst attempting to reconcile the demands of purchasers with the views of disparate and difficult professional colleagues. The argument concludes that there is an urgent need to recognize the demands being placed upon doctors who take on this role, and identifies the benefits and challenges that the role creates in leading health care. The final section identifies the issues that need to be considered to sustain this role in future and the recognition that it has substantially increased the power base of the medical profession, but often at a high price for the individuals involved.