Innovative approach to medical leadership and management development: clinician secondment to a management consulting firm

Background and aimOpportunities to participate in leadership and management with protected time can be limited for clinical trainees. The aim of this fellowship was to gain experience of gold standard healthcare management by becoming part of multidisciplinary teams working to deliver transformational change in the National Health Service (NHS). MethodsA 6-month pilot fellowship, structured as an Out of Programme Experience was created for two registrars to be seconded to the healthcare division of Deloitte, a leading professional services firm. Competitive selection was jointly administered by the Director of Medical Education at St Bartholomew's Hospital and Deloitte. ResultsThe successful candidates worked on service-led and digital transformation projects, interfacing with senior NHS executives and directors. Trainees gained direct experience and understanding of high-level decision making in the NHS, tackling complex service delivery problems and the practical realities of delivering change within a constrained budget. One impact of this pilot has been completion of a business case to scale up the fellowship into an established programme that can allow other trainees to apply. ConclusionThis innovative fellowship has allowed interested trainees an opportunity to broaden the relevant skills and experience in leadership and management required in specialty training curriculum with real-life application in the NHS.