Clinical Leadership
Acknowledgement and Development
Clinical Leads
support, remotivate, inspire
The client and their challenge
The client
Two newly merged acute trusts
The challenge
Inspire, remotivate, innovate: support, while also bringing acknowledgement and development - both personal and professional for Clinical Leads
The program
Participants
Consultants and Clinical Leads from both trusts
Format outline
- Eight sessions of 1.5hours delivered over 14 weeks
- Assignments between sessions with a buddy system to ensure
- continuation of the conversation
- a supportive / supported approach to assignments
- sharing of insights and experience to enhance personal and professional development
- the creation of a sense of team and belonging across the two, previously separate, organisations
- A private, closed, and moderated WhatsApp space for participants to
- network,
- take time to get know one another
- further connect and establish relatedness
- create a safe reflective space for peers to acknowledge one another
- provide peer support
- gain and share personal insight
- engage in sharing mutual challenges and solutions development
- A cumulative series of program booklets, updated after every session. Its contents reflect both the material presented by facilitators and reference to contributions from participants, ensuring that it is became a highly relevant, meaningful and useful document. By the end of the program particpants had a 67 page program booklet to keep, refer to, and share with colleagues.
Outcomes and data
The data from this program is currently being pocessed so here are some of the things our participants have said:
“The sessions helped me to have confidence. Little things are the essence of big things. Being kind, being mindful makes a big difference. I learned that to make a difference it’s not about big things to a lot of people at once, it’s little things.”
"I was reminded how work and life swings along the journey. We’re all on different journeys and in different places. In the past, I had possibilities and took steps to achieve things. What sticks in my mind now is the little things – feedback from patients, people saying thank you. It’s remembering that we’re not automatons but humans doing the best we can.”
“Reflection is drummed out of us through the (clinical) training we have. Lack of bandwidth is not the issue, it’s how we are taught to respond in certain circumstances. There is research that diagnoses are made within the first two sentences and the rest of the consultation is subject to confirmation bias rather than thinking around the problem. We need re-training.”
“I have feelings: from being confused to eureka moments; to taking some action which goes better than I thought it would. I think that I don’t listen when I don’t want to hear the answer. When I do listen, things can go better than expected.”
“Sometimes we don’t even ask the question if we don’t want to hear the answer.”
“It’s the little things that make a difference. By taking time to listen, and to talk, you can understand how to simplify things so trainees and patients understand.”
“Things have been traumatic for junior doctors, and for me, recently so I gathered them together to debrief and find out if they are OK. In 10-15 minutes they shared a lot of concerns, which I raised up the same day. The acknowledgement they received, that their concerns had been heard, was a big gain for them and a relief. Right now, listening is the best thing I can do for them.”
“At the moment we’re living in the moment, how do we break the cycle and help people to be positive and act on their ideas and enjoy their work? We need to be human, be positive, listen to what goes on, and be social.”
“Reacting on impulse can be good in the short-term – cathartic – but probably not a good idea in the long term. If possible, it’s good to sleep on a decision – or talk to someone about it – first.”
“Thinking about the attributes of attending, understanding, empathising and helping: sometimes attending is easy, sometimes it takes practice. Any approach has strengths and weaknesses, and awareness of areas of strength, and techniques to help prioritise focus are important.”