After designing and implementing a dynamic leadership and management programme, Total Excellence Centre has helped Wigan and Leigh Hospice improve its management structure and boost the service it provides.
For over 30 years, Wigan and Leigh Hospice has been providing specialist care. As a registered charity, funded mainly through local support and donations, the hospice works with more than 1,200 people each year. It's “whole needs” approach also addresses the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families including occupational health assistance and bereavement counselling.
The hospice management team is made up of a variety of roles ranging from clinical teams to service support roles. The senior management team regards people development highly and recognises that this is vital for the future success of the hospice. They acknowledged that development of leadership and management skills would further improve the middle management team, who work in demanding situations on a daily basis.
To achieve the hospice’s five-year plan, all managers also needed to be aware of how they contributed to the 'bigger picture' and how everyone worked together to equally deliver and achieve this.
After successfully winning a tender, Total Excellence Centre began to design a dynamic leadership and management programme to deliver to the hospice management team. A six-month classroom-based programme was developed. This included one-to-one sessions which helped to determine individual members’ abilities and specific learning needs.
This highly interactive in-house programme began in October 2015 and by November 2015 the learning was starting to make positive changes. Motivation was very high, with delegates already making suggestions about different ways of working.
The programme included a variety of learning methods including action learning sets, group challenges, dynamic action planning, individual reflective practice and bespoke case studies. The final session also included a presentation to the director of clinical services, Jo Carby.
Initially, the team were apprehensive about attending this development programme. However, by the end of the programme, the presentation highlighted that the team were knowledgeable and confident about their ability to lead and manage and do things differently. It was obvious that the leadership and management programme had made a positive impact.
Ward Sister Angela Wright explains how the work she did with Total Excellence Centre has improved her confidence: “Having that personal insight of how I manage in difficult situations has been a massive shift for me and hopefully I can use that in the way I lead. “I’d definitely recommend the course – I feel stronger for doing it.” Confidence also improved specifically when delivering presentations.
By the end of the programme delegates were keen to share best practice, new ideas, reflect on the learning and how far they had progressed. Not stopping there, the managers were looking at “what next” and how to keep the learning fresh and keep the group cohesiveness a part of Wigan and Leigh Hospice.
Total Excellence Centre is now working on a buddy scheme for Wigan and Leigh Hospice to further encourage cross-team support and a culture of friendship and openness across its management team.
I’d definitely recommend the course – I feel stronger for doing it.""
Angela Wright - Ward Sister
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