Retention Charter action 4.4

Action 4.4: Create clear leadership development pathways and equitable opportunities for Psychiatrists to pursue leadership roles in line with the values of the RCPsych and their own organisation

Action 4.4 is part of Domain 4 of the RCPsych's Retention Charter for employers - which relates to developing medical leadership.

What stage is your organisation at?

Use this maturity matrix to assess what stage your organisation is at, in terms of Action 4.4.

  • At the beginning of their careers from medical school, doctors are regularly taught about their responsibilities beyond clinical work, their roles as healthcare leaders, and how their job relates to the organisation and wider NHS.
  • Psychiatrists are supported to access CPD opportunities and leadership teaching/resources through study leave budgets and/or other allocated funding.
  • Leadership development opportunities and resources are offered equitably, including proactively offering these to potential leaders from all backgrounds and those who might be less able or confident to access them.
  • Psychiatrists appointed to leadership positions receive induction programmes that are specifically tailored to their roles, separate from the standard organisational induction for all staff.

  • The organisation facilitates and funds access to external leadership development schemes for Psychiatrists such as the RCPsych Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme and relevant academic courses and qualifications in leadership.
  • The organisation advertises clinical, educational, and academic leadership opportunities to provide leadership experience for those with a wide range of interests and gives specific information about accessing them.
  • Opportunities exist for interested doctors to shadow multidisciplinary senior leaders in the organisation, seek careers advice, and access mentorship and/or coaching to further explore their leadership interests and build their potential.
  • Events and programmes are organised where aspiring leaders can meet role models from diverse backgrounds who have developed their leadership skills through various pathways.

  • The distribution of leadership roles within the organisation is broadly representative of the workforce and the population that they serve, with board-level accountability for ensuring equity and fairness of promotions and recruitment processes.
  • Employees are actively encouraged to lead outside of the organisation, as well as within the organisation, and adopt regional, national, or international leadership positions e.g. RCPsych roles.
  • The organisation has a leadership development pathway or strategy which ensures that under-represented, marginalised, or underserved groups and those with protected characteristics are encouraged and supported in developing their leadership potential.
  • The organisational leadership strategy is regularly reviewed at board level and assessed as a core component of quality and safety of care.

Advice and recommendations

  • Include opportunities for aspiring clinical leaders to be involved in developing job descriptions and job planning for Psychiatrists. Job plans and recruitment processes should be flexible and implement reasonable adjustments, as required, to avoid excluding specific groups from applying (e.g. consider opportunities for job sharing of leadership roles).
  • Incentivise leadership positions for psychiatrists, ensuring appropriate renumeration and rewards for those undertaking additional leadership responsibilities and celebrating their roles/achievements.
  • Review the distribution of clinical, educational and academic leadership roles across the organisation to identify under-represented groups of psychiatrists. Work with these under-represented groups to understand barriers to them taking on leadership positionAdvertise and promote access to leadership and development pathways outside of the organisation such as opportunities and roles with national bodies. Encourage Psychiatrists to apply for these external leadership roles and ensure sufficient support and flexibility within their teams and job plans to facilitate thiss, and to support and develop their leadership potential in line with the principles of co-production.
  • Work with existing clinical leaders to identify what they wish they would have known when they started in their roles and use this information to develop bespoke induction programmes for new leaders.
  • Engage with Higher Education Institutions and work together to develop a pipeline for clinical leaders through talent spotting and defined routes into leadership roles.
  • Ringfence funding for leadership development purposes, such as for funding formal leadership qualifications and courses for those who are interested.
  • Consider organising ‘meet the leader’ sessions, networking events, and/or creating online videos/blogs where Psychiatrists can hear the stories of healthcare leaders from a wide range of backgrounds, feel inspired by them, and understand their roles, responsibilities, and pathways to success.
  • Offer/organise mentorship and/or coaching training for leaders in the organisation to support the next generation of healthcare leaders. Trained mentors and coaches could be matched to new and emerging leaders, and/or those who are interested in leadership development pathways, to provide bespoke support.
  • Create and advertise a repository/database of clinical, academic and educational leadership roles and opportunities within and outside of the organisation. For example, advertise a link to the medical directorate website and circulate emails when relevant leadership schemes open each year to encourage interested psychiatrists to apply.
  • Advertise and promote access to leadership and development pathways outside of the organisation such as opportunities and roles with national bodies. Encourage psychiatrists to apply for these external leadership roles and ensure sufficient support and flexibility within their teams and job plans to facilitate this.

Links and resources

  • The NHS Leadership Academy offers a range of leadership development programmes for healthcare professionals of varying career stages and with various degrees of leadership experience.
  • There are also several reputable leadership courses offered by external organisations, for various costs, that are available for doctors.
  • The RCPsych has produced a College Report (CR207) focused on job planning, titled 'Safe patients and high-quality services; job descriptions for psychiatrists'. This work is presently being updated with a new report to be published in due course.