A radiology manager whose team reached the final of the AHP Leadership Challenge has described the competition as “an inspirational learning experience.”
The challenges, which were designed to support leadership at every level of the NHS, took place across England with the best performing team in each of the 10 regions competing in the national final in June.
Karen Snelson, business manager for radiology and therapy services, led a multidisciplinary team from Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to victory in the north west regional heats. “The task related to provision of services to meet emergency demand targets,” she explained. “We were given a fictional scenario and asked to produce a report for a joint committee of primary care and acute Trusts.”
The teams’ skills were tested further by additional problems and challenges that cropped up during the course of the day. “We’d suddenly receive the news that information had been leaked and we must organise a press conference,” said Karen. “It was quite pressurised but we kept our cool and delivered on time.”
The competition’s objective was to give AHPs the confidence to lead on innovation across health and social care and Karen feels that this was certainly met. “We discussed our strengths and weaknesses and delegated the tasks accordingly,” she said. “The rest of the team are clinical staff – two occupational therapists, a speech and language therapist, a radiographer and a physiotherapist – so we all had very different areas of expertise.”
The final, held in London, saw the 10 regional winners meet to prioritise the commissioning of new services across the health economy. “The pressure was even greater and we were given a shorter time frame in which to deliver,” said Karen. “But once again, our strengths came to the fore and we really pulled together as a team.”
Overall winners were a team from NHS East Midlands. “We were disappointed not to win but we all gained so much from the experience,” she said. “We learnt a lot about team working and respecting one another’s views, and that listening is a key leadership skill. We are keen to go away and build on what we did well and improve on what we didn’t do so well.”
Karen has been so inspired by the event that she is planning a leadership challenge at her Trust at the end of the year. “We want to allow more of our staff to have the experience we did. It will be open to all the AHPs, as well as our laboratory science and potentially our local PCT colleagues. It’s going to be a really exciting competition.”
