A co-design approach has been used to develop the collective leadership intervention to ensure that the intervention components are grounded in the needs and real-world experiences of healthcare staff.
Co-design is a process. It is an approach where all relevant stakeholders are actively involved in the design process to help ensure that the result meets their needs.
Four healthcare teams in the IEHG participated in the co-design process to design the collective leadership intervention - three hospital teams, one clinical academic directorate that crosses two hospitals and a university, and an integrated care team that crosses one hospital and a Community Healthcare Organisation. Participation was on an invited voluntary basis, and co-design members represented a range of disciplines, stakeholders and levels of experience. This approach of having representatives from different teams come together with Quality and Safety experts and a patient advocate, along with the research team, led to a rich sharing of experiences and learning.
The co-design team met for a half-day each month for five months from January to May 2017, and had a one-day session in June 2017. Throughout the process, we adhered to co-design and collective leadership principles and best practices. The co-design team played a key role in identifying target areas for intervention, designing inputs, prioritising content, and selecting the programme outcome measures.
A suite of intervention components has been designed for healthcare teams, by healthcare staff, researchers and patient representatives and advocates, taking account of the complexities of the operational reality of healthcare. Guidance on how to implement the intervention within the busy context of the healthcare system has also been collated. The intervention represents a radical departure in leadership capacity development, because of the co-design nature and the focus on the capacity development of the team rather than the individual leader.
- Ann Myler, Acute Medicine Team, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
- Alan Kelly, Acute Medicine Team, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
- Eileen Furlong, UCD and Clinical Academic Directorate for Cancer Care (CaCAD)
- Clare Conway, Perioperative Directorate, Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar
- Yvonne Kane, Perioperative Directorate, Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar
- Brenda Monaghan, Orthopaedic Team, Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan
- Sinead McDonnell, Older Person’s Integrated Care Team, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and Community Healthcare Organisation
- Deirdre Beirne, Older Person’s Integrated Care Team, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and Community Healthcare Organisation
- Emer Nolan, Older Person’s Integrated Care Team, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and Community Healthcare Organisation
- John Fitzsimons, Consultant Paediatrician and Clinical Lead Quality and Safety, HSE
- Arwa Shuhaiber, Renal Consultant and Clinical Lecturer TCD
- Alan English, Patient Advocate
- Una Cunningham, Transformation Office, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
- Co-Lead research team
