WORKING PAPER No.1 Is the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework Missing the Wood for the Trees?

This essay provides a short, critical commentary on The NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (i). The Framework describes a set of key characteristics, attitudes and behaviours that leaders in the NHS should aspire to in delivering the NHS Plan. It is a key area of current healthcare policy debate. We explore two, interrelated problems with the Framework: (1) methodological – the extent to which data collected from Chief Executives and Directors can be generalised to leaders at all levels in the NHS; and (2) epistemological – the Framework’s exclusive focus on the definite article – the is of individual identity and personal qualities. We conclude that leadership needs to be subjected to broader theoretical analysis and not more simply ‘popularist’ descriptions of individual leadership characteristics, if the NHS is to get satisfactory answers to the question of leadership development in the long term.