Non-executive director development programme for existing and aspiring NHS foundation trusts

Manchester Business School, in association with GoodwinHannah Ltd, have developed a residential programme to enhance the contribution non-executives make to their boards. The programme is fully endorsed by Monitor and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

The programme is an integrated three day residential event costing £2000 which builds the expertise of directors in four key areas: finance; strategy; clinical quality and organisation culture.

Seven NED competencies will be developed: knowledge of board and role; group decision making orientation; conceptual thinking; communication; clinical performance; board dynamics; and understanding of the health system.

For further information, click here.

“Efficient use of resources and good quality services go hand in hand” – new finance guide for doctors

The Audit Commission and Academy of Medical Royal Colleges have published A guide to finance for hospital doctors.

In the publication, they state that ”there are many examples where clinicians have led change and improved services, through taking greater responsibility for managing the money available to them. This is not about focusing on cost and cost alone, but how best money can be used to improve the quality of care, combining operational and clinical effectiveness. Efficient use of resources and good quality services go hand in hand.”

Healthcare Governance Review believes that the guide, whilst written for doctors, may be of interest to board members and managers.

Download A guide to finance for hospital doctors here.

NHS governance creep – ‘educational governance’

Healthcare Governance Reviewis concerned as much with ‘governance creep’ in the NHS, as it is with trying to get a handle on what good governance actually looks like.

There are now so many governance terms and terminology that keeping track of governance matters in healthcare is an almost impossible task. It all started with corporate governance, controls assurance and clinical governance. Then we had research governance, information governance, medicines governance, commissioning governance, local governance, converged governance, health and safety governance, risk governance, shared governance, integrated governance, and governance between organisations – to name but a few.

This article in the Health Service Journal was published in February 2007 and talks about ‘educational governance’. It’s author, John Ennis, says that “Good governance is as much about the quality of learning as it is about patient safety, or running an effective organisation.” He talks about standards developed by Skills for Healththat could help healthcare organisations develop an ‘educational governance framework’ for both clinical and non-clinical education.

Read John’s article here (registration may be required).

NHS audit agency offers accredited risk management training

Parkhill, an NHS internal audit agency hosted by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, is running a series of 2-day training events titled Management of Risk and Uncertainty in the Health Sector. The events, to be held in London, are scheduled for 4/5 June, 18/19 June, 13/14 October and 10/11 November 2008.

For further information on these training events, including guidance on how to book, click here.