LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Service. So when ministers require change to happen, we must remember that this is the way that it is meant to be – this is the country’s health service and the politicians are the elected representatives of the people. As a manager I don’t see the involvement of MPs as an irritation – that’s exactly the way it is intended to be.
“Politicians are the representatives of the people and this is the people’s health service – they pay for it; very substantial amounts. The NHS has always been, and was always intended to be, a system which is fully and integrally a part of the public sector.
“In that sense, it is not the same as being a chief executive of BP or Shell. Even though the size of this organisation is compara- ble to a FTSE 100 company with around a £1.2bn turnover, it is firmly in the public sector.
“My role is a different type of job from be- ing the chief executive of a private com- pany because I am ultimately answerable to Parliament, through the elected repre- sentatives and the Secretary of State for Health.
“People need to realise that there is a fundamental difference between a chief executive in the public sector and in a private company.”
So how would Professor Smith describe his own approach towards leadership?
He said: “I would say I use an inclusive style. I am actually employed both by the university and the health service, so I am dealing with two very complicated organisations.
“The first complexity involves leading one of the largest acute trusts in the United Kingdom, which is made up of five origi- nal hospitals rolled up into one, across a number of campuses, and therefore that involves a multitude of interactions with all aspects of the health service. The sec-
“Another important point to make is that from the outset we have had clinician leaders leading the organisation, so it is not as if I manage a set of managers who are, if you like, my hit squad. I manage the clinicians who are leaders of our clinical programme groups who are very strongly, very successfully and very ably supported by our management group.”
It is often said the measure by which serv- ices should be judged is whether NHS managers would be happy for their fami- lies to use them.
ond complexity is the university intercon- nectedness with the academic health sci- ence centre and the interaction between with the health service and the university.
“So I don’t think you can lead this with a dictatorial type strategy. I just don’t think that would work. It has to be more of a ‘flatter’ management style, where I basi- cally have to persuade a large number of important post holders – some of whom I bear no executive authority over – to be involved in this entity.
“Doctors are no longer allowed the sort of iconic leadership which they at one time craved.”
Professor Smith went further: “I don’t just expect it to be of a high enough standard for my family – I expect it to be of a high enough standard for the Prime Minister, the Queen or anybody else who needs our services, because it provides the finest quality of care possible in the world.
“This is about running an organisation which has absolutely global aspirations; nothing less than excellent is good enough in this organisation.
“We are competing with the best in the world, not just with other NHS organisa- tions in the United Kingdom.”
There is no question that Professor Smith leads one of the greatest medical institu- tions in the world. So when the pressure is on, what is the main thing which he always try to keep in mind?
He said: “Always, always, always remem- ber that there is a human being at the end of this – it is about delivering services that can save people’s lives and certainly stop suffering.
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www.imperial.nhs.uk Stephen Smith
“That has to be, at all times, the overarch- ing principle for any- body, whatever they do, who works in the health service.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION national health executive Mar/Apr 11 | 33
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