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HomeSchool for Business and SocietyResearchManagement capacity and capability in healthcare: What difference does it make? Project 2 - Examining Leadership Capacity in the Evolving English NHS

Examining leadership capacity in the evolving English NHS: Navigating new organisational forms and their impact

Over the past decade, healthcare provision in England has grown increasingly complex, with more than a third of NHS trusts adopting shared leadership arrangements through provider 'groups'.

These group structures involve collaborations between separate organisations (or trusts) sometimes with multiple sites, and vary in their governance. It is assumed that larger size will raise efficiency through economies of scale in corporate and support services and also help to share best practices in leadership.

However, not all agree that the drift towards increasing size and consolidation of NHS organisations is always good thing. While some actively seek opportunities for further growth of their organisations, others argue that the ‘NHS model is not infinitely scalable’ and criticise an approach that they see as pursuing ‘scale for scale’s sake’. The absence of a clear central policy on the structure and configuration of NHS trusts, or a robust theory of change for the joint leadership model, has also fuelled scepticism.

The research

In this project, Professor Nicola Burgess is working with Bryan Jones at The Health Foundation to explore the rationale, processes and outcomes of new NHS group structures. Specifically, the research seeks to explore the following questions:

  • How are new group structures in the NHS in England being led?
  • What does mature leadership capacity entail in the context of new NHS organisational forms?
  • What impact are the new organisational forms having on the ability of NHS providers to plan workforce transitions and implement and sustain improvement at scale?