The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7472 p381
6 October 2007

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

PDF 50K, Acrobat Reader

• NHS leadership
• Open Day (2)
• Retention fees (4)
• White Paper
• Supply chain
• The Society (2)

Letters to the Editor

NHS leadership

Local collaborative leadership

From Mrs C. A. Adams, MRPharmS

Local collaborative leadership was an underlying theme at the 2007 British Pharmaceutical Conference. It was apparent that this needs to be underpinned by the integration of pharmacists into the NHS and excellent communication.

Do we pay leadership sufficient attention? The NHS Leadership Qualities Framework includes collaborative working, effective and strategic influencing, and seizing the future as three of its 15 key qualities for effective leaders. Clearly this cannot be achieved without first establishing relevant relationships.

Many of us work for, are contracted to or sell to the NHS, therefore understanding the culture thoroughly is also important in terms of leading across and breaking down traditional boundaries. Moreover, we all should be involved.

How good are we at local collaborative leadership? The Pharmacy Practice Research Trust’s “National evaluation of the new community pharmacy contract” recommends developing local pharmacy leadership in the context of primary care and improving working relationships between community pharmacists and general practice.

Several of the dragons in the “Dragon’s den” session at BPC 2007 agreed that much of what they had been recommending boiled down to improving our leadership skills (PDF 60K).

We heard of the importance of local leadership at a breakfast session on practice-based commissioning where emphasis was placed on developing relationships with others before one launches into trying to sell a service, using existing contacts, developing networks, and building in time and money for personal development.

Local collaborative leadership potentially encompasses all pharmacists as we have a job to do in developing relationships with our colleagues in other professions and NHS organisations. Creating networks, taking the responsibility to make sure that they are comprehensive and making the most of them to create a step change in what individuals and the profession as a whole can achieve are increasingly important. I would urge readers to pay particular attention to this as now is the time to make a real difference.

We are currently running the “Leading across boundaries” programme, which focuses on local collaborative leadership, to support both individuals and their networks to deliver on specific issues. We have the expertise and experience to develop individuals and their networks so that they are more effective.

Nearly 95 per cent of the participants completing the pilot programmes said that pharmacy was better integrated into the NHS or now had the potential to be, nearly 80 per cent said that they had made significant or major progress on a real local issue and nearly 70 per cent that there had been a similar improvement in how they communicated and worked together to get things done.

Further information is available from Yvonne Dennington at yvonne.dennington@rpsgb.org or telephone 020 7572 2208

Anne Adams
Head of Professional Leadership
Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Send your letter to The Editor

Next Topic (Open Day)