Joint Statement from the British Association of Medical Managers and the British Medical Association
30 April 2007
Principles of Medical Leadership
General
- There are management and leadership components to every senior doctor's job. Doctors should, therefore, be encouraged to learn about management and leadership at every stage of their careers.
- Medical management and leadership is a highly respected career choice in every healthcare sector in the United Kingdom.
- Some senior doctors excel at management and leadership. These doctors should be encouraged, supported and properly developed to take on medical management and leadership roles at a local and, if desired, at a national level.
- Every doctor should be able to demonstrate management and leadership skills to an agreed standard. All doctors should, therefore, receive basic level of management and leadership development and education during their undergraduate years and subsequently throughout their postgraduate careers. There should be opportunities for hands-on experience in management and to take on serious management roles with real authority and responsibility thereby gaining experiential learning about complex management issues. This management and leadership training should be to agreed standards and monitored for consistency and quality.
- Doctors should be able to demonstrate skill, knowledge and attitudes in the identified areas of competence, defined in BAMM`s Standards of Medical Management and Leadership, prior to taking up a role in medical management, rather than following their appointment.
- Where possible medical managers should be encouraged and enabled to maintain their clinical skills and have a clinical role in addition to their managerial role.
- For those doctors with an aptitude and an interest to pursue a career in medical management, there should be a clear career structure. In secondary care this might start with the post of clinical lead and progress through clinical director and Trust medical director to national medical director posts, and officers of Royal Colleges, the BMA, other medical organisations and national governmental roles .
- At every stage in the career pathway, doctors should be able and expected to access relevant education, training and development opportunities. These include taught programmes, coaching, tutoring and mentoring, such as BAMM’s Fit to Lead programme. Personal development and assessment against the Standards of Medical Management and Leadership should ensure they have the full range of skills, knowledge and behaviours demanded by these complex roles.