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Original research
How leadership training saves money ‘service line leadership’ at Nottingham University Hospitals
  1. Duncan Orme1,
  2. Colin Campbell2
  1. 1 Finance, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
  2. 2 Retired, Galway, Ireland
  1. Correspondence to Duncan Orme, Finance, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK; duncanorme{at}me.com

Abstract

New findings The evidence presented demonstrates that this leadership programme improved financial performance through increased participant confidence, leading to improved individual and team performance. Observations confirm that margins were maximised by clinicians when provided with granular understanding of costs and training in leadership. Limitations of the study and methodology are discussed.

Background/aim The ‘Service Line Leadership’ programme was developed at Nottingham University Hospitals National Health Service Trust to support financial recovery, through leadership skills and improved understanding of cost. Over 3 years, the programme attracted 425 participants (69 consultants). This retrospective study quantifies the impact of the programme and how it influenced leaders.

Methods The five measures used were: (1) evaluation of the financial return on investment, (2) analysis of the mean differences between 360° psychometric assessment scores before and after the programme, (3) a survey utilising a focused interview and a follow-up questionnaire, (4) a post-programme questionnaire examining skills acquired and (5) a workshop evaluation using a net promoter score.

Results Savings of £3.3 million were identified through the delivery of 11 separate initiatives. Quality improvements were observed. Participants were found to have changed their leadership behaviours through improved communication of trust, leading to empowerment, confidence to challenge perceptions and being mindful of others. New techniques were acquired giving rise to increased confidence in personal leadership.

Conclusion The return on investment based on projects of leaders employing the techniques from the programme, demonstrated a positive impact on the business model of the hospital.

  • behaviour
  • value
  • organisational effectiveness
  • leadership assessment
  • medical leadership

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2018-000132

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Footnotes

  • Twitter @DuncanOrme

  • Contributors DO and CC planned the study. CC conducted the focused interviews with survey and the analysis of the LQ. DO conducted the analysis of ROI, skills questionnaire and workshop evaluation. DO submitted the study.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent for publication Not required.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Author note DO is the Operational Director of Finance and Procurement at Nottingham University Hospital (NUH), one of the largest Trusts in the UK with over 14 500 staff and a turnover of £987 million. Duncan is a regular contributor to journals and conferences on costing and service line leadership in healthcare. He is also a member of the ‘Healthcare costing for value institute’ council. Previously Director of Finance at St Andrews Healthcare (a charity leading innovation in mental healthcare) and Director of Finance at Northampton General Hospital, DO is an experienced leader in finance and is also a certified facilitator in leadership. Duncan is currently co-authoring a guide to clinical business acumen. He keeps bees at his Northamptonshire home and races his 95 years old classic sailing boat in North Wales. CC After a varied and eventful career, he read psychology and education and worked primarily in mental health both as a practitioner and educator. Latterly, he advised and consulted on business and leadership programmes, supporting students through their health care business studies. He is now retired and living in rural Ireland where he also keeps bees.