Responding to Francis: clinical leadership

Fenton K, Phillips N (2013) Developing skills in clinical leadership for ward sisters. Nursing Times; 109; 9, 12-15. The Francis report has called for a strengthening of the ward sister’s role. It recommends that sisters should operate in a supervisory capacity and should not be office bound. Effective ward leadership has been recognised as being vital to high-quality patient care and experience, resource management and interprofessional working. However, there is evidence that ward sisters are ill equipped to lead effectively and lack confidence in their ability to do so. University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust has recognised that the job has become almost impossible in increasingly large and complex organisations. Ward sisters spend less than 40% of their time on clinical leadership and the trust is undertaking a number of initiatives to support them in this role. In 1980, Sue Pembrey described the ward sister as “the key nurse in negotiating the care of the patient because she/he is the only person in the nursing structure who actually and symbolically represents continuity of care to the patient. She/he is the only person who has