Potential challenges facing distributed leadership in health care: evidence from the UK National Health Service

Martin, G., Beech, N., MacIntosh, R. and Bushfield, S. (2015) Potential challenges facing distributed leadership in health care: evidence from the UK National Health Service. Sociology of Health and Illness, 37(1), pp. 14-29. (doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12171) (PMID:25529349)

Abstract

The discourse of leaderism in health care has been a subject of much academic and practical debate. Recently, distributed leadership (DL) has been adopted as a key strand of policy in the UK National Health Service (NHS). However, there is some confusion over the meaning of DL and uncertainty over its application to clinical and non-clinical staff. This article examines the potential for DL in the NHS by drawing on qualitative data from three co-located health-care organisations that embraced DL as part of their organisational strategy. Recent theorising positions DL as a hybrid model combining focused and dispersed leadership; however, our data raise important challenges for policymakers and senior managers who are implementing such a leadership policy. We show that there are three distinct forms of disconnect and that these pose a significant problem for DL. However, we argue that instead of these disconnects posing a significant problem for the discourse of leaderism, they enable a fantasy of leadership that draws on and supports the discourse.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Martin, Professor Graeme and MacIntosh, Professor Robert
• Authors: Martin, G., Beech, N., MacIntosh, R., and Bushfield, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Sociology of Health and Illness
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
• ISSN: 0141-9889
• ISSN (Online): 1467-9566