NHS Management and Leadership Programme

The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world and delivers care and treatment to more than a million people every 24 hours. It impacts everyone’s lives and employs over 1.3 million people across more than 350 different careers, delivering amazing care to patients every single day.

But there are times when we fall short and services are not what we want them to be. That has to change. To deliver the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we need NHS leaders and managers who are confident, capable and future-focused. They must respond to the evolving needs of staff, patients and communities. We need our colleagues to have the right skills, the right support and the right accountabilities.

The Management and Leadership Programme responds to the Messenger Review (2022) and Kark Review (2019). It supports the 10-Year Health Plan by investing in the professional development of leaders and managers.

By supporting all our managers and leaders, the NHS will attract, develop and retain the best talent. It will increase public confidence and a sense of pride across all staff groups with managerial responsibilities, up to and including our most senior executives and Boards.

Leaders and managers shape the culture, experience and outcomes across the service for patients and our staff. This programme is not optional. It will be an essential expectation of all leaders and managers, whether clinical or operational.

This programme is being overseen by Jo Lenaghan, interim director general for people. Sam Allen, chief executive of North East and North Cumbria integrated care board, has been tasked with supporting NHS England’s team to deliver the programme.

What we want the programme to achieve

The aims of the NHS Management and Leadership Programme are to make sure:

  • NHS leaders and managers at all levels meet the standards and competencies our staff and patients expect of them
  • all leaders and managers have access to professional development and support to meet the expected standards and competencies
  • the NHS attracts, develops and retains the best talent
  • the public has increased confidence in NHS leaders and managers, who feel a continued sense of pride in their profession

How we will make the programme a reality

The programme has three workstreams. These will set the right standards, improve our development offers, and nurture and deploy talent across the NHS.

Workstream 1: Set the right standards for our leaders and managers

We are implementing a new Management and Leadership Framework to establish consistent professional standards and a Code of Practice for all NHS managers and leaders. This applies to clinical and non-clinical staff at every level.

This Framework sets clear expectations of NHS managers and leaders. It provides a common thread through career development, talent identification, performance and appraisal.

All leaders and managers will have access to professional development and support to meet the expected standards and competencies.

Workstream 2: Develop our leadership and management

It is not enough to set out the right standards for leaders and managers. They need quality-assured support and training along the way too. That is why we have set out:

  • a new national leadership and management development curriculum which will describe the requirements for delivering high quality training and development
  • core online, modular development content which is accessible for all and refreshed leadership development programmes which update current Leadership Academy programmes against the new standards

Workstream 3: Talent support and career development

We also need to improve how we attract, identify, mobilise and retain talent and high potential at all levels in the NHS. We will do this by:

  • strengthening the talent pipeline for chair, non-executive director, chief executive and executive roles.
  • this will include the Aspiring Chief Executive and Aspiring Chair programmes, interventions to identify and develop future leaders with high potential at more junior levels, and campaigns to attract new talent to the NHS
  • supporting senior leaders to work in the most challenged systems by identifying existing talent and removing barriers to deployment with a longer-term plan to ensure the most experienced and effective leaders are identified and supported to take on these roles