Leadership: Making it happen

Abstract

As patient demand increases and national funding for the NHS in real terms decreases, there has never been a more important time for imaginative, innovative and effective leadership, particularly within primary care. This requirement has been fully recognised by both the General Medical Council and the RCGP. Effective leadership leads to outstanding care, whereas poor leadership is contributing directly to practice failures when inspected by the Care Quality Commission. Within the NHS, much is made about leadership to the point where it becomes almost too confusing to understand. This article outlines how the simple adherence to a set of basic principles takes leadership from the theoretical to reality.