Reshaping common sense: Management, power and the allure of medical leadership in England's NHS

Abstract

A lthough the concept of ‘Medical Leadership’ remains in many ways unclear, within the NHS it is widely seen as the solution to the service’s second biggest problem (after funding) the fragmentation of services and system inefficiencies that undermine high quality care. This belief is growing even though evidence for the critical importance of ‘leadership’ as a distinct, individual characteristic is thin, and the return on investment in leadership training programmes remains largely unmeasured.