Leadership and the quality of healthcare*

Abstract

Good leadership is acknowledged as essential for any type of organisation, from government to football teams and global enterprises. Recognition of its key role within healthcare has had a rather slower development than in industry, but has now been acknowledged as vital, particularly in the development of quality care through clinical governance. Leadership exists at every level throughout an organisation. In healthcare it runs from government ministers through health authorities and other agencies to Trust chief executives and their Boards. Leadership research is wide-ranging, covering the different values and abilities which make up the concept itself: the leader’s personality or behaviour; the people who are led; and the context, such as the type of organisation, as well as the wider context faced by that organisation at the time. A number of studies have looked at what makes up a trustworthy leader and found that this concept comes from three principal characteristics: their ability, their benevolence and their integrity.