The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisation and delivery of health and care services across the world. In many countries, policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demand of COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals. Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation of both ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questions about the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, the pandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilst in others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient and adaptive to unanticipated pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically and to develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapt to such unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider how responses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance of health and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership at local, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insight and analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governance of care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role of professionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.

With fresh insights for health professionals, this book promotes a modern interdisciplinary and dynamic approach to health leadership and management, and outlines international best practice for future teaching and training.

In the USA, the COVID-19 crisis came as an unpleasant surprise and a shock to many healthcare systems and hospitals, especially in the crisis epicenter, New York City. The Bronx was one of the hardest hit boroughs of New York City, with significant negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its indigent population. SBH Health System (formerly known as St. Barnabas Hospital) is an integrated system of an acute care hospital, ambulatory care center, trauma center, dialysis center, stroke center and other services and facilities, serving the community of the Bronx. The story of SBH in preparing for and managing the rapidly escalating surge of severely ill patients is a treasure of lessons in health crisis preparedness and management at all levels: clinical, administrative, financial, etc. These lessons can be used for other acute care hospital settings and other potential health crises that may arise in the future. Within a short 3 weeks, SBH increased its in-patient capacity by 50%. However, during the same short time, it increased its critical care capacity by over 500%, providing critical care to severely ill patients on ventilators. This book chronicles the situation step by step and describes how this accomplishment was done. Accounts from the frontline health workers and from the clinical and administrative leaders describe important aspects of crisis management, such as team building, multi-departmental coordination, effective communications, dynamic decision-making in response to rapidly changing situations, keeping up the morale and caring for the healthcare workers and managing the supply chain. The uniqueness of the experience of SBH is enhanced by the fact that SBH is a low budget “safety net” hospital serving the poorest population in New York City. The worldwide trend is toward tighter healthcare budgets with demands for higher efficiency and productivity. There is a lot to be learned from the SBH health crisis management, including how efficient management, team building, management of limited resources and collaborative workplace culture make the foundation of success in the face of the crisis of the century. This unique text serves as a “how to” guide for implementing skills necessary for crisis management. Lessons from the success of SBH in tackling the dramatically fast unfolding crisis are utilized in a clear and concise manner. Such lessons may benefit other health systems and hospitals in planning and preparing for similar crises.

These chapters on ‘Responsible Leadership’ represent the latest thinking on a topic of increasing relevance in a connected world. There are many challenges that still remain when it comes to establishing responsible leadership both in theory and practice. Whilst offering conceptualisations for the improvement of leadership is a first and perhaps easier response, what is more difficult is to facilitate the actual change to happen. These chapters will not only generate interest in the emerging domain of studies on responsible leadership, but also will pave the way for future research in this area in the years to come. Previously Published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 98 Supplement 2, 2011​

2024 Prose Award Winner for Nursing and Allied Health Services Category! "This book is a comprehensive, well-researched, and well-presented guide for nascent and existing leaders of public health care who navigate the complex, fragmented, often underfunded, and rapidly changing system. It is a most valuable resource." ---Doody's Review Service, 5 stars Leadership in Practice prepares leaders for the unpredictability, complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty they will face while leading public health and healthcare organizations and teams. It equips leaders with practical, sustainable, and universal skills, abilities, and intangibles needed to thrive in a constantly-evolving environment. Building on a solid theoretical foundation, Leadership in Practice addresses the challenges leaders face in many contexts by exploring the skills and behaviors necessary for the effective practice of leadership. Integrating the most relevant leadership theories, their history, evidence, and application in public health and healthcare, chapters focus on the essential competencies that leaders in public health and healthcare must master, including effective dialogue, ethical leadership and moral courage, systems thinking, strategic thinking and analysis, and emotional intelligence. The textbook discusses the many challenges leaders face, including change leadership, developing an equity mindset, effective leadership during organizational crises, and meaningful engagement with the communities served. Case studies relevant to public health and healthcare examine topics such as leadership during COVID-19, Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, community engagement and team building, hiring diverse personnel, preventing burnout, and more to provide lessons learned from real-world examples. Leadership in Practice brings together a diverse array of leaders and a wide range of voices to impart wisdom and share unique perspectives and experiences from public health and healthcare settings. This authoritative resource is essential for anyone training in public health, healthcare management, and related health professions, and illustrates why it is critical to learn from leaders who possess different worldviews, experiences, and training backgrounds. Leadership in Practice provides you with expert insight on building the right leadership framework and developing a meaningful leadership style for your own leadership practice. Key Features: Describes the core principles, skills, traits, and behaviors for effective leadership in practice Includes engaging case studies demonstrating leadership intangibles, applications, and real-world context in public health and healthcare settings Builds self-awareness through self-assessments and reflection exercises Provides wisdom and insight from notable and diverse leaders in the field Leads students and professionals to the development of their own framework upon which to build and continuously evolve their leadership practice

Today’s health care systems need doctors and consultants to act as leaders, within the multi-disciplinary team, in addition to carrying out their clinical role. This book identifies the key elements of successful leadership through 'medically led' service development and systems transformation and shows how this benefits patient care, particularly when patients become partners in the process. The authors provide a conceptual framework of medical leadership and a set of scientific methods and tools that make a significant contribution to advancing quality and transforming services in healthcare. On top of this, they present analytical tools which medical professionals can use to support their own improvement or system transformation strategy, including ways of measuring improvement and the returns on investment of medical leadership. Woven throughout the book are real-life case studies from medical leaders across the world, providing students with valuable practical insights. Chapter summaries and reflections are provided to support learning. Medical Leadership will be essential reading for students on medical and clinical leadership courses internationally as well as for all practising doctors, consultants and General Practitioners.