This paper will concentrate on medical leadership. The paper was commissioned to contribute to The King’s Fund’s 2012 review of leadership and engagement. It will therefore describe models of medical leadership and predominantly refer to the medical literature. Importantly, this paper’s focus on medical leadership is not intended to detract from the essential leadership role of health care professionals such as nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, and social workers. In fact, this paper will argue that what is essential is clinical leadership by all members of the care delivery team.
This paper was commissioned by The King’s Fund to inform its review of leadership in the NHS.