Invitation to participate in the NHS South West

‘National Leadership Council Clinical Fellowship’ scheme

A joint initiative between the Severn/Peninsula Deanery, the NHS Graduate Management Programme, NHS South West and the DoH.

A 6 month leadership development opportunity is being offered to clinicians and recent alumni of the national management training scheme who are seeking an opportunity to extend their skills and influence.

We recognise that excellent leaders are pivotal to achieving an ever improving quality of health care in the South West. We also understand that clinicians and managers working together to lead and influence change will create far greater momentum for sustainable service improvement than either group might achieve alone. Therefore, our scheme will create clinician / manager partnerships who work and learn together over a 6 month period.

We are looking for creative, forward thinking individuals who have energy and enthusiasm for change. Our fellows will be ready for an opportunity to expand their horizons, rise to new challenges and develop their leadership potential – whilst contributing significantly to key work streams and the achievement of important milestones in the pursuit of excellent health systems.

The 6 month fellowships will be provided as a full-time development opportunity, and will include;

·         project based work with change teams across the South West, which will include the development of project management and service improvement skills;

·         leadership knowledge development linked to University of Bath Business School;

·         leadership skills facilitation through personal reflective learning, action learning sets and bespoke learning opportunities.

The scheme will start in March 2010.

Applications should be returned to Kate Woolman, Head of Leadership Development, NHS South West (leadership@southwest.nhs.uk) and received no later than Monday 30^th December.

We expect to hold interviews:

For clinicians on Thursday 28^th January 2010

For managers on Monday 8^th February 2010

Clinical Leadership Fellowships-further information.

These Fellowships are for applicants from any specialty including general practice.

For the last year the Severn Deanery have been working on a project to develop some National Clinical Leadership Fellows in the South West. This initiative has had the support of Sir Iain Carruthers, Chief Executive of NHS South West and we have now also secured funding and support from the National Leadership Council to commence the project.

The Clinical Leadership Fellowship Programme is part of a wider NHS project to identify and develop future leaders in the NHS with a view to having 250-500 key personnel through whom funding for research and developmental projects will be largely directed.

We will be able to appoint eight fellows from the programme of whom 5 are likely to be medical clinicians from any specialty. It follows, given the expectations of the programme and the small numbers to be appointed, that we are looking to appoint exceptional trainees to the Leadership Fellowships whom we expect to see as likely future leaders in the NHS. It is also likely that we will be looking to appoint Fellows from the senior end of their programme, although this should not exclude exceptional candidates from the early years also applying.

Clinical Leadership Fellows will be taken completely out of their programme for six months (as an OOPE), and this time out is unlikely to be accepted as part of their training. Your training time therefore might be slightly extended. You will be paid an educational bursary that will be equivalent to your NHS salary without on call commitments. The experience gained is likely to make you highly competitive when it comes to appointment as a consultant or general practitioner.

You will be teamed up with recent graduates from the NHS Graduate Management Programme, a competitive management training programme (more than 6,000 graduates competed for 90 places this year) that is highly regarded both inside and outside the NHS. During this time you will have access to high level committees and key NHS decision makers and be expected to work on real projects to the usual tight NHS timescales. There will be a programme of seminars, workshops, mentoring, academic work etc to support you in your attachment. You will be expected to show that your involvement has led to key changes/improvements.

There are a number of other Clinical Leadership Fellowships currently being appointed, but our programme is unique in that we are also proposing to research the clinicians/management relationship through an academic programme. As such there will also be an opportunity for any of the Fellows to enrol in a MD or PhD programme if they wish.

If any interested applicants would like further information or to have a chat with me, then please feel free to contact me as Severn Deanery Lead for the Project

Professor Richard Canter PhD FRCS.

Associate Dean and Head of the Severn Postgraduate School of Surgery

Richard.canter@southwest.nhs.uk

Mobile 07718 989 371