PUBH6004: LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH

ASSESSMENT 2: REPORT – PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Introduction:

Public health leaders play an important role in the community by ensuring success and effectiveness. For ensuring this success, a public health leader influence, enable and motivate other people through recognition, mentoring and coaching. This report demonstrates a scenario where the public health officer has faced issues. After that, this report analyses the solution of the problems with the help of Australian health leadership framework.  After that, this report provides a self-assessment of the leader with the help of the proper tool.

Part 1: Analyse the scenario of public health leader by using the health leadership framework of Australia:

From the scenario, it is seen that Helen is one of the 35-year-old general practitioners who has been selected as the new public health officer in Warnambool. Helen has been allocated as the public health officer in the town which is 300 kilometres away from the town. This fact has caused many deaths because there were not any specialists care in the town. Due to this reason, Helen has explored the option of telesurgery and teleconsultation so that the people of Warnambool can get specialists care in their areas. As a general practitioner, Helen wanted to initiate the services for the well-being of the senior citizen. As Helen is one of the single women and she has lesser experiences as GP, therefore, her leadership has been observed with scepticism by the policymakers, senior citizen of the location and the senior stakeholders of the government. Though Helen is one of the trusted general practitioners the stakeholders are uncertain about her role in a senior leadership position. Therefore, the main issue in the scenario is the stakeholders do not respect Helen that restricts the stakeholders in developing cooperation and collaboration with Helen. Moreover, Helen has not managed many stakeholders which have created issues for her in maintaining 10 staffs who directly report to her. 

For analysing the scenario, health LEADS framework of Australia must be applied. The aim of this framework is developing a people-focused health system that can meet the healthcare need, reduces health inequalities, offers better quality services and improves the healthcare system (Norgaard et al. 2015). Health LEADS have five different areas of focus such as leads self, engage other people, achieve a better health outcome, drive innovation along with shapes the health system (Carey, Crammond & De Leeuw, 2015). For resolving the health issues associated with the public health leader and developing a leadership which is people-focused, effective, equitable and sustainable, a leader must understand own strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, by applying the Health LEADS framework, Helen must improve and reflects the self-leadership capability. For understanding own capability as a public health leader, Helen must understand as well as display the self-regulation, self-awareness’s, empathy, motivation as well as social skill. For managing the 10 staffs that work under Helen and showing her capability to the senior stakeholders, Helen must manage and understand the impact of her assumptions, background, attitude and values on her and her staffs. Moreover, Helen must assess whether she is trustworthy, ethical, honest, courageous and resilient or not. Assessment of own capacity can help Helen in understanding her efficiencies in performing her responsibility so that she can be a successful public health leader.  A better idea about own capability can help Helen in understanding the improvements that can be performed by her in the health sector of Warnambool. 

After understanding own capacity, Helen must foster sufficient growth in Warnambool and influence other people to engage with the vision to improve healthcare facilities. Helen must communicate a better future vision with the 10 staff and then she must take various decisions so that it can be aligned with the goal. For increasing the stakeholder engagement, the leader must involve them in storytelling and explain the requirement of new healthcare facilities (Mannix, Wilkes & Daly, 2015). Along with developing communication to describe the vision, Helen must involve herself in treating every stakeholder with respect or dignity. For actively engage people in achieving the vision, Helen must listen to the stakeholders, present ideas to them and resolves various organisational conflicts with efficiencies. Helen must enable people in presenting their ideas and strengthening them so that a high performing team can be developed.

According to Ennis, Happell & Reid‐Searl (2015), the leader is the person who can make a difference. The leader set a motivating direction with the help of which the goal can be achieved. Helen must work with compassion so that she can develop a better quality of care and sustainable system. For achieving the goal, Helen should collaborate with the stakeholders so that she can communicate the direction. For achieving the outcome with efficiencies, Helen must align the resources and decide to install telesurgery in Warnambool’s hospital. After installing it, Helen must involve her in continuous improvement so that more person-centred health outcome can be achieved. As a health officer, Helen must continually improve and monitor the health outcome, celebrate the achievements and hold others for achieving the service-related outcome. 

According to West, Borland, & Hammond (2015), health-related innovation does not mean to develop a new product but it also includes some fundamental changes in the business and model so that more person-centred care can be achieved. The case study revealed the fact that the innovation that is needed in the healthcare sector of Warnambool is teleconsultation and telesurgery so that people of the area can get specialists health care. For achieving the developed goal that is implementing telesurgery in Warnambool, Helen must develop the spirit of innovation. For supporting the innovation, Helen must inspire and lead the 10 staff under her. She must recognise the field where the change is required and support the thinking of the staff so that they can offer their idea to Helen. Helen must collaborate with every stakeholder for facilitating improvements and take risks to implement the innovation. In this case, the risks include electricity and low-speed network related issues. Helen must maintain and initiate momentum to assess and celebrate people-centred services.

Health is one of the complex systems where services of a health organisation, legislations and the findings are interconnected. For implementing change in the health sector of Warnambool, Helen must recognise the pattern of the interdependency for implementing a strategy that can offer maximum benefits. After that, Helen must align the organisational system with the developed goal. 

Part 2: Self-assessment by using the self-assessment tool:

Clinical leadership is necessary for health and social care so that high-quality services can be offered to the patient (Grindel, 2016). Different clinical leadership qualities that are necessary among a clinical leader is working with others, demonstrating the personal qualities, setting direction and improving health-related services (Sarto & Veronesi, 2016). I have an effective focus on becoming an effective clinical leader. From the result (appendix 1) of demonstrating personal qualities, I have observed that I have secured maximum score under the green button. Therefore, I can say that I have an efficient focus in demonstrating my capability. This quality is helpful for me in assessing my strengths and weaknesses which help me to apply my strengths to create better service standards. I have observed from the result that I have a sufficient level of focus in developing a better self-awareness, continuing my personal growth, managing myself with efficiencies and acting with integrity.

After participating in the test to check my capability to work with others, I have observed that I have some gaps in working with others (Appendix 2). Though I have secured maximum points under the green button I have secured some points under the red button. I have observed that I have an effective level of capacity to develop a network with other people and develop as well as maintain a relationship with them. However, I have some issues to encourage other people to create good quality healthcare. This is because; I do not have focuses on the development of an environment that helps other people to contribute to healthcare. I have observed that I have a better focus to work in a team. 

I have observed that I have efficiencies in managing service. From the test result (appendix 3), I Have identified the fact that I always contribute to the plan for achieving service goals. I have also noticed that I have efficiencies in managing people by motivating them and managing their performance but I do not have a focus towards managing organisational performance which can create inefficiencies in developing an effective healthcare facility. However, I have a better focus on resource management. 

For offering a better healthcare facility to people, I think that it is highly important in improving services. From the result of the test (appendix 4), I have identified the fact that I have a better focus towards ensuring the safety of people but I have some issues in critically evaluating different factors that can improve healthcare facilities. Moreover, I have identified that I have a good capacity in facilitating organisational transformation and encourage innovation as well as improvement in my organisation.

I have observed that I have an effective focus on setting direction. The test result (appendix 5) has helped me in identifying the fact I have a focus towards identifying the context for implementing change. Moreover, I have efficiencies in applying evidence and knowledge so that I can identify an opportunity to improve services. Moreover, I also have efficiencies in evaluating the impact of setting direction. However, I have inefficiencies in deciding to set a better direction. 

Part 3: Self-reflection:

The self-assessment test has helped me in identifying the fact that I have efficiencies in performing the role of a clinical leader. The health LEAD framework clearly described the fact that for becoming an efficient leader and developing a better healthcare facility, assessing own capability is highly important. My efficiencies in creating self-awareness, managing my capacity, showing openness, ethics and honesty has helped me to lead myself and engage other people with the innovation. From the case study, I have observed that for playing the role of public health leader, engaging colleagues with the vision of the healthcare sector of Warnambool is important. The vision of the healthcare sector of Warnambool is improving the healthcare by applying ICT so that specialist’s healthcare services can be offered. 

I have identified that I have efficiencies in working with others which is helpful for me in engaging the colleagues with the vision. My capability of managing services through proper planning, people management and resource management can help me in driving innovation in the workplace. This is because; effective resource planning and resource allocation always improve innovative capability. Moreover, this capacity can also help me in managing my staffs by proper task allocation, support and task delegation. The innovation that is important here is teleconsultation and telesurgery. My focus towards ensuring patient safety, implementing transformation and developing innovation can help me in implementing teleconsultation and telesurgery with betterment. This is because these two technologies not only offer better healthcare but also ensures effective patient safety. I have the strength to set the direction to achieve a goal. Therefore, I can use this strength to develop a direction for the ten staff who works under me so that they can help me in achieving the goal.

I have observed that I have some gaps in encouraging other people that can create difficulties for me in encouraging people to work better. I have also observed that I have inefficiencies in managing the performance of 10 staffs who work under me. This fact can restrict their performance in implementing innovation in the healthcare sector. For deciding on improving the existing healthcare facilities, making a productive decision is important. For making an effective decision, critical evaluation of the entire scenario is necessary. Therefore, the absence of this capability can create difficulties for me in making a better decision.

Action plan:

Conclusion:

From the above description it can be concluded that for developing improved healthcare facilities, the public healthcare officer must play an important role in developing innovation. Innovation is always helpful in the healthcare sector because it recognises the health issues efficiently and offers better care to the patient. For implementing better healthcare, a public health officer must identify their capabilities and then they must develop strategies according to the strengths and weaknesses so that it can improve the healthcare outcome.