Accreditation

Accepted in part.
We think it is essential that those who fill leadership posts should be able to demonstrate that they share in the common values of the NHS and meet expected standards in respect of both leadership skills and behaviours. We do not, however, accept the need for a formal accreditation scheme.
A new suite of national leadership development programmes launched by the NHS Leadership Academy and supported by a revised healthcare leadership model will represent a consistent approach to developing leaders with the right skills and behaviours at all levels.

The NHS Leadership Academy was established in 2013 and now forms part of the Workforce, Training and Education Directorate of NHS England. A range of eight national development programmes exist for entry level to mid-level managers, including some accredited courses. These train around 20,000 participants per annum. The NHS Leadership Academy has further information on the programmes it offers for leaders.

NHS Long Term Workforce Plan

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (June 2023) sets out a series of interventions to train, retain and reform the workforce, and put the NHS on a sustainable footing into the future. Backed by more than £2.4 billion in government investment it outlines how the NHS will address existing vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population by recruiting and retaining hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years and reforming the way the service works. NHS England has committed to review the plan at least every two years. This has a key focus on nursing.

The Messenger Review more recently recommended consistent management standards delivered through accredited training.

Please see response to recommendation 215 for related information on the NHS Leadership Competency Framework for Board members, Fit and Proper Persons regime and Code of Practice for all leaders and managers. This is being co-designed with key health and social care stakeholders, and engagement commenced over summer 2024, supported by a national steering group. Wider stakeholder engagement is planned over autumn/winter 2024/25.

The NHS Leadership Academy now delivers a single, national approach to leadership development through its wide ranging suite of programmes based around the nine ‘leadership dimensions’ of the NHS leadership framework, which good leaders at all levels in the NHS should express. These underpin the Academy’s five core leadership programmes designed to develop outstanding leaders across every tier of the healthcare system, as well as the nurse and midwife leadership programme taking forward the Prime Minister / Deputy Prime Minister commitment for 10,000 nurses and midwives to complete leadership training by March 2015. The Academy’s core programmes are accredited and, with broader take up of the NHS leadership model in the NHS, a consistent approach to identifying and developing current and future NHS leaders with the right skills and behaviours at all levels is now being applied.

The National Skills Academy for Social Care provides a range of training opportunities for aspiring and new leaders in adult social care. Although these opportunities are voluntary, there has been significant take up from the sector. In addition, the National Skills Academy for Social Care is running a ‘Leadership for Change’ training programme in conjunction with the NHS Leadership Academy, Public Health England, the Local Government Association Leadership Centre and the Virtual Staff College.

This recommendation was accepted in part by the Government. In the January 2014 Hard Truths report, Government rejected the need for a formal accreditation scheme. Instead, it referred to the national leadership development programmes launched by the NHS Leadership Academy.

In the February 2015 Culture Change report, the Government said that the NHS Leadership Academy’s core programmes were accredited, with a consistent approach to identifying and developing current and future NHS leaders with the right skills and behaviours.