Leading together: Collaboration among senior healthcare executives

Healthcare systems across the world face the dual challenge of balancing between the provision of affordable, good quality and timely healthcare on the one hand; while innovating constantly to enhance efficiency amid increasing resource shortfalls, on the other. Their success is contingent upon the presence of strong organisational leadership that harnesses the inherent collaborative potential of both physician and non-physician executives. This study sought insight into the day-to-day experiences of healthcare leaders in the NHS. We conducted 24 in-depth interviews with senior NHS physician and non-physician leaders around their experiences of working together, opportunities and challenges to effective collaboration, and identification of best practices relating to shared decision-making. The executives interviewed had job titles including chief operating officer, medical director, and clinical director. Our findings suggest that collaborative leaders in healthcare are not born but created through a complex interplay of personal, cultural, and structural best practices that require active attention in the everyday leadership setting. Our research has direct implications for healthcare practice and will be useful to healthcare executives and decision-makers across the UK, and healthcare systems internationally.