Without standards, there can be no improvement
By Dr Paul Evans
FMLM Medical Director
If the past year has taught us anything, it is that effective medical leadership is crucial in the coordination of national and global responses to meet the challenges of delivering successful patient outcomes, as well as maintaining a healthy workforce and population.
Recognising and embracing the need to professionalise medical leadership capability is fundamental to achieving this ambition. We have seen this become increasingly important for organisations and individual teams and more recently for healthcare systems. The Japanese industrialist, Taiichi Ohno’s comment that “Without standards, there can be no improvement”, is true. The values and behaviours articulated in FMLM’s Leadership and Management Standards for Medical Professionals, initially published in 2015, were developed with this ambition in mind and FMLM has worked closely with teams as well as trusts since that time to help embed the Standards for their workforce. So, I am delighted to launch our third edition of the Standards, which coincides with our 10th year as the UK professional home for medical leadership.
The 3rd Edition of the Standards not only builds on the competencies outlined in the earlier editions – which emphasise the impact individual values and behaviours have on teams, organisations and systems within healthcare – but defines how these should be applied to the development of networks and more integrated patient care, as well as the health and wellbeing of local, regional and national populations. As we have seen in the UK’s latest Health and Care White Paper, this is the direction of travel for our healthcare systems.
In addition, the 3rd Edition clearly links the Standards with the system of certification for FMLM Fellowship, which offers professional recognition to doctors who demonstrate leadership competence at one of three defined levels: Associate, Fellow and Senior Fellow. We are proud that Fellowship offers junior docs the opportunity to benchmark their leadership knowledge and skills against the Standards at Associate Fellowship level. Moreover, the Standards support an inclusive and diverse culture in healthcare.
The UK medical profession has a distinguished international reputation for standards in clinical medicine. FMLM’s 3rd Edition of the Leadership and Management Standards for Medical Professionals sets a path towards achieving the same reputation for leadership and management.
Read the latest edition of the Leadership and Management Standards for Medical Professionals