Difficult Issues for Clinical Directors Mr Gabriel Sayer Divisional Director of Surgery Consultant vascular and general surgeon BHRUT NHS trust
Learning The essential conflict of being a Clinical Director Building and Managing the team Managing complaints Demonstrating Patient Safety and Identifying Risk
The real challenge of a Clinical Manager Can you be a hybrid? Get the management skills? Commit to the long-term?
Who do you want to be?
Building your team Can you choose your team? Take the early opportunities Get the best General Manager you can find Specialty leads General managers, Service managers HR representative Finance representative Directorate Nurse Ward sisters Quality and Safety lead/manager complaints manager Educational Lead Consultants?
Maslow s Hierarchy of needs for a CD (how to build success) Directorate Performance Directorate data pack, meetings (business and Q&S) Wider team, Specialty leads, Quality and Safety, HR & finance leads Close team, directorate manager, nurse lead, Office, job description, secretary, time, organisational support Communication strategy
Office, job description, secretary, time, organisational support Don t set yourself up to fail Make sure you have what you think you need to be successful Don t think you will not have to make compromises Make sure you are clear what your organisation wants from you
Close team, directorate manager, nurse lead Discuss how you are going to work together Who is accountable for what? How are you going to support each other? What will good look like for you as a team?
Wider team, Specialty leads, Quality and Safety, HR & finance leads Choose your clinical leads. Choose your general manager. What is your support for the Q&S agenda. What is your support for HR and Finance.
Directorate data pack, meetings (business and Q&S) What is your monthly rhythm? Do you get your data in a readily understandable package that you can understand and explain to others? Do you have a directorate meeting? Do you have a Quality and Safety meeting? One to ones Performance
Directorate Performance What is your legacy going to be and work backwards How are you going to deliver the change you need to be successful Now get ready for the real challenges
Managing Complaints Official complaints Informal complaints Unresolved complaints Whistle-blowers Trainees Nurses/Doctors/technicians/AHPS
Categorise complaints. Get it right first time. How serious is the complaint? Serious harm? Meets criteria for SUI Conduct or capability Issues NO Not serious YES Declare SUI MD and MHPS Complaints Team * Make notes and keep the pace of investigations!
Managing Yourself when Investigating Complaints Know what you want to ask Know what your triggers are Never rush your meetings 6 Ps If you feel you are losing control take a break Have a note keeper if official e.g. HR representative Summarise conversation in email to correspondent as soon as you are finished
Effective Listening Skills Nearly everything you need to know in managing complaints will be told to you if you listen hard enough LEAPS (Listen, Empathise, Acknowledge, Paraphrase, Summarise)
Demonstrating patient safety and identifying risks What is patient safety How do you measure it How do you risk assess Consistency
You are always on show. You need to be perfect! around your trust standards of communication, dress policy, communications etc. You have situational power that needs to be recognised, so be careful what you say Corporate behaviour means supporting the organisations goals even when you may not completely agree
Empowering all your Staff Everyone counts Actively seek out the disempowered and the disenfranchised Listen to what is being said not what you want to here!
Risks Patient harm events Thematic Complaints Systems and process errors Resource implications Outcomes
Challenges for Clinical Director Colleagues/Friends who misbehave Scary clinical colleagues Being unpopular Cost versus Quality Managers versus Clinicians Culture History Hidden agendas
Conflict resolution Cost versus quality Managers versus Clinicians Culture History Hidden agendas
WIN WIN Negotiation
Manage up, manage down