BSc Health and Social Care: Leadership Report on NHS Case Study

This report examines leadership within the health and social care sector, using the National Health Service (NHS) as a case study. It begins by outlining the challenges the NHS faces, including employee dissatisfaction, service delivery issues, and financial pressures exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report then delves into the application of two key leadership models: authentic leadership and transformational leadership. It defines authentic leadership, emphasizing its focus on leader legitimacy through trustworthy relationships, self-awareness, and ethical foundations, and discusses how it can foster a positive work environment and motivate employees. The report also explores transformational leadership, highlighting its role in guiding change, inspiring teams, and improving healthcare outcomes, especially in addressing issues like employee turnover and poor care quality. The analysis includes practical applications of these leadership styles within the NHS context, offering insights into how they can address specific challenges and improve organizational performance. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and the importance of effective leadership in the health and social care sector.

Leadership in health
and social care

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAINBODY...................................................................................................................................3
Case Study of NHS......................................................................................................................3
Understand concept of the ‘authentic leadership’ model............................................................4
Role of Transformation leadership in a healthcare company......................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Leadership is the process of guiding and directing individuals or team to gain a specific
goal through motivation. Leadership plays vital role for the leaders because it helps them to
encourages people to take the actions which they require to succeed. Leaders plays vital role in
healthcare and social care company by maintaining mental wellbeing of health providers in the
company. To understand role of leadership in organization has a great example of NHS which
offers health and social care services to the client. In this report will discuss about a case study
to clearly demonstrate key authentic leadership models and transformational leadership in the
process of change.
MAINBODY
Case Study of NHS
National Health Service is the organization that offers it’s social and health care services across
the UK with the support of four subsidiaries which are the part of NHS. From past fewer months
company is facing major challenges in it’s organization such as lack of employee’s productivity,
ineffectiveness of service delivering to the patient, financial pressure due to the Covid-19
pandemic. Covid-19 has become one of the major issues for the all healthcare and social care
companies because still no permanent cure is available across the world. Still, NHS staff are
facing various issues while working in the workplace and most of the employees are
experiencing depression and anxiety. Due to Covid-19, NHS have to handle all organizations
social care and health care in which number of people are admitted (Dunne, Rafferty and
Farrugia, 2020). Company is lacking behind employee’s productivity in the company because
several employees are on quarantine because they found covid-19 positive. So, remaining
employees have to spend maximum time in the workplace for offering best care services to the
patient. Company is also lacking behind equipment’s because it does not get proper funds from
public and government to run hospital more effectively. Due to this company unable to pay good
salary to the medical staff which is leading dissatisfaction in them. Apart from this, company
also unable to meet patient’s objectives. Thus, employees unable to give proper treatment to the
patient. These are the big issues which are facing by NHS currently.

Understand concept of the ‘authentic leadership’ model
Authentic leadership defines as a approach to leadership that focuses on developing the
leader’s legitimacy through trustworthy relationships with followers or people who values their
input and develop an ethical foundation. Usually, authentic leaders are the positive people with
honest self-concept. With the support of authentic leadership, leaders enable to lead with
authenticity, they usually serve as role models for their followers and helps the development of
authentic leadership characteristics (Grant and et.al., 2020). This leadership style is important for
the company because it develops an organizational climate of commitment, job satisfaction,
greater work engagement, higher performance and productivity. This model is proposed by Bill
George and stated that to become a good authentic leader they must have some characteristics
such as self-awareness, leader-follower relationship etc. Self-awareness is the one of the major
characteristics that must require in an authentic leader because it helps them to understand own
strength, weakness morals, vales and perspectives. Another is leader-follower relationship that
also supports leaders to become role model for others. Authentic leadership theory believes in
bonded natural relationship between the follower and leader (Gill and et.al., 2018). A good
authentic leader always supports their followers to achieve self-actualization.
This leadership style requires to implement in NHS case study whereas employees
become demotivated, do not offering good quality medical and social care services to the client
in the workplace. Authentic leaders at NHS company initially understand needs and issues of
employees as well as company’s requirement due to this most of the issues are arising. After that
they conduct meetings for the nursing staff and healthcare providers and encourages to keep their
views regarding the situation and their issues as well. With this approach, authentic leader can
maintain wellbeing of all staff in the company. As know, open communication is one of the
major sources of developing a healthy working environment. Management and authentic leaders
at NHS can conduct some training session for the staff in order to keep themselves from the
pandemic and offers quality service to the patient. Authentic leadership model also states that an
authentic leader should have honest and ability to give creative solution over the proposed
situation. With this characteristic, authentic leaders can be role model for the medical staff that is
one of the major strengths of the company. To inspire NHS’s employee’s, leaders follow
authentic leadership style in order to establish build honest relationship with them by rewarding
them accordingly their efforts. Motivation theory also implements by authentic leaders to lead

motivation in staff. For example, authentic leaders have goal to lead employees towards self-
actualization stage so, they implement Maslow’s Hierarchical needs in their practices. This
motivation theory encompasses five type needs i.e. physiological needs, social needs, safety
needs, self-esteem needs and social-actualization needs. Physiological needs include well-
organized sitting arrangement, air-conditioning room etc. that maintains employee’s wellbeing
and influences them to stay additional hours except working hours to complete tasks (Bakari,
Hunjra and Niazi, 2017). Safety needs includes health insurance policy, workplace safety which
are expected by employees so that they can work with free mind instead of concerning about
safety issues. Self-esteem involves respect, rewards, appreciation which leads intrinsic
motivation in individuals for the job and influences them to give honest performance in the
workplace and achieves all delegated tasks within timeframe. Self-actualization is last stage that
achieves by individuals when company fulfil above mentioned needs in effective manner. Thus,
authentic leaders enable to encourage employees to follow them and keeps them dedicated
towards company’s goal. With the support of authentic leadership style, NHS can promote it’s
staff to follow the managers in the workplace.
Role of Transformation leadership in a healthcare company
Transformation leadership is a kind of leadership theory whereas leaders works with
teams to determine needed change, developing a vision to direct change through inspiration and
conduct the change with committed member of a group. Transformation leadership plays vital
role in leading satisfaction in staff, which in exchange may have an essential effect over the
reducing rate of patient care errors. In healthcare industry, an effective transformer leader can
support healthcare systems to engage with other staff and work together in respect of improving
health of the community (Duncan and et.al., 2017). NHS is facing employee dissatisfaction, high
employee turnover issue, poor care service etc. In this situation, leaders must follow
transformation leadership theory because that will support them to give best performance in the
workplace. Priorly leader at NHS implement authentic leadership style and inspires staff to
follow them. Transformer leaders’ posses’ several characteristics i.e. encourages others, model
of integrity and fairness, offers support and recognition, sets clear goals, get individuals to look
beyond self-interest. According to NHS case study there are various issues poor communication,
less privileges for the employees, high work pressure and less appreciation which leads
employee dissatisfaction due to this company unable to offer quality care to the clients in the

workplace. To deal with situation, leaders organize meeting and involves all staff i.e. nursing
staff, clinical management, pharmacists, doctors, specialists etc. and aware them about
company’s performance and patient’s review over the care and medical services. Then they set
goals for the company with other department managers and coordinates with staff so that all
become responsible for their responsibilities and shows dedication towards company’s goal
beyond self-interest. Leaders requires to motivate staff to take ownership of their roles and
perform beyond the expectations. Apart from this leaders needs to make employee teach how to
think over the assigning task instead of directly do what they are told. Thus, type freedom
empowers staff and leads satisfaction for the job (Akhtar and et.al., 2016). leaders inspire staff to
find alternative option to gain proposed goal. in the absence of employee productivity.
Transformer leaders encourage employees to work in group so that they can productivity offer
high quality care services to the people. They also organize training and development program
for the clinical department and others so that clinical expert can make individuals understand
how to work proactively in the workplace (George Willcocks, 2016). While nursing staff also
gets chance to learn new skills which they can apply while dealing number of patients in the
workplace. To resolve high turnover of employees, authentic leader communicate with HR in
respect of recruiting number of talents who can offer best performance in the pandemic situation.
In this context they organize employee orientation program for the new joiners and makes them
understand how to perform different tasks at the workplace and how to cooperate other team
members during peak situation. As know, this training session will support NHS to improve it’s
care performance in the UK as well as it leads relaxation for other staff as well. Thus, authentic
leaders maintain wellbeing of individuals in the company. Equity motivation theory also follows
by authentic leader in the workplace in respect of maintaining fair balance between input and
output. This approach strikes employee’s mind and make them dedicated for the job
responsibility then they initiate to put their 100% efforts to cure patients and leads high level of
satisfaction in them and their family for the company’s services (Anderson, 2018). While safety
measures also provide to the staff as well which they can use for their safety purpose while
treating patients. Thus, employees will able to give quality of care to the client and keeps them
safe from quarantine regulation. Authentic leaders support finance management to generate
funding source by resolving employees’ medical charges such as to restrict them to put PPT kit
and allows only one healthcare centre for the covid-19 patients so that other employees and

patients can be safe. Thus, this transformer leadership style supports me to deal with all issues
related to NHS in effective manner.
CONCLUSION
This report has given overview of NHS case study in which explained that NHS is facing
various issues Due to Covid-19 pandemic like employee dissatisfaction, poor quality care, low
employee productivity and funding sources. Application of Authentic leadership theory and
concepts has been summarized in the report. It has been concluded role of transformation
leadership in the healthcare companies like NHS in the report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dunne, S., Rafferty, S. and Farrugia, L., 2020. A Comparative Analysis of the Psychological
Impact of COVID-19 on Key Workers Within the NHS and the Criminal Justice
System.
Grant, J.J and et.al., 2020. Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthcare workers at a
London NHS Trust. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, pp.1-3.
Gill, C and et.al., 2018. Using theory on authentic leadership to build a strong human resource
management system. Human Resource Management Review, 28(3), pp.304-318.
Bakari, H., Hunjra, A.I. and Niazi, G.S.K., 2017. How does authentic leadership influence
planned organizational change? The role of employees’ perceptions: Integration of
theory of planned behavior and Lewin's three step model. Journal of Change
Management, 17(2), pp.155-187.
Duncan, P and et.al., 2017. Authentic leadership—is it more than emotional
intelligence?. Administrative Issues Journal, 7(2), p.3.
Akhtar, M and et.al., 2016. Transforming the NHS through transforming ourselves. International
Practice Development Journal, 6(2).
Anderson, C., 2018. Exploring the role of advanced nurse practitioners in leadership. Nursing
Standard.
George Willcocks, S., 2016. The leadership role of psychiatrists in the NHS. British Journal of
Healthcare Management, 22(9), pp.455-460.