A new management and leadership framework has been announced for use across the NHS and social care.
The framework, expected for June 2025, aims to provide clear expectations for managers and leaders and will be used to develop a code of practice for all those working across the NHS and social care.
NHS England has appointed the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to lead a project with the Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF), and the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM) to create the framework.
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Professor Greta Westwood, chief executive of the FNF, said the charity was ‘delighted’ to be involved in the ‘timely’ workforce reform project.
‘This work will provide the code of practice and standards required to improve leadership and management, and ultimately improve care to save lives,’ she said.
‘Nurses and midwives, the largest workforce, will have their voice, as clinical leaders and managers, represented in this work.’
The framework announcement follows the Kark and Messenger NHS leadership reviews into safe staffing and leadership in health and social care.
The 2019 Kark review examined how the ‘fit and proper persons tests’ prevents unsuitable staff from being redeployed or re-employed in health and social care settings.
The 2022 Messenger Review set out a goal to review system wide leadership development in health and social care.
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The Messenger recommendations, fully accepted by NHS England, include the introduction of a single set of unified, core leadership and management standards and training for managers working in clinical and non-clinical roles.
The new framework will cover clinical and non-clinical roles at junior, middle and board level, also delivering a curriculum for the training and skills to ‘professionalise’ these roles.
The move aims to improve public confidence in NHS management and improve patient outcomes.
In a speech to NHS Confed Expo in June Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said leadership and management was the priority task for the NHS.
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‘If we want a well-run NHS, we must support those who run it. If we want leaders to be accountable – which we do, then we must give them the tools they need to do their jobs well.
‘So, we’re taking forward the excellent work of Messenger and Kark and we’ll shortly begin developing a new, multi-disciplinary NHS Management and Leadership Framework,’ she said.
