Matching available health resources to consumer needs is challenging. Governments and health bureaucracies with finite resources face increasing demands from their client populations, which often have complex health issues. No country prioritises resources to meet every single health need of every citizen; consequently, effective health service planning is critical to maximising population health outcomes and ensuring value for the available money. Due to the inherent contradictions existing between the high demand for and the limited responsive supply capacity by health services, health service planning is often characterised by negotiation, lobbying and compromise among various interest groups. A consensus can best be achieved if stakeholders agree upon a set of core values, and all involved in the process endorse principles and the procedures of planning. This chapter focuses on the practice of health service planning.

Lack of compassion among health service staff has been identified as a concern around the world. High-profile scandals and inquiries in the United Kingdom have suggested that health systems and services ‘are struggling to provide safe, timely, and compassionate care’. In the United States, only half of patients and staff surveyed believed the health system provides compassionate care. Similarly, a recent study in Australia identified a gap between the intentions of organisational leadership to provide consistently high-quality care and the ability of staff to do so at point of care. Healthcare managers are looking for proven ways to support staff to recognise and provide compassionate care.

A 2021 report on a study of workplace conflict in the United Kingdom concludes that, in 2018–19, more than 35 per cent of respondents reported workplace conflict, with an estimated 485 000 employees resigning as a result. Managers need to understand that conflict does not resolve itself; rather, it tends to gather intensity and energy. Gupta, Boyd and Kuzmits have found that ‘employees spend as much as 42 percent of their time engaging in or attempting to resolve conflict and 20 percent of managers’ time is taken up by conflict-related issues’. Managing conflict is one of the primary responsibilities of managing staff and teams, particularly in multicultural work environments. Understanding what is ‘culturally normative in terms of self-worth, confrontation, emotional expression, and managerial intervention can help [staff] involved in workplace conflict understand what they are experiencing’. Additionally, it can help managers intervene appropriately. In this chapter, different types and origins of conflict are discussed, as well as approaches to managing and resolving conflict.

The context in which health professionals help people has evolved: as evidence-based technologies are implemented to improve patient and consumer health outcomes, new roles, tasks, responsibilities and accountabilities develop as a consequence. The health industry is challenged with fundamental change, not only forcing health professionals to acquire new skills continuously, but also to contribute towards changing the environments in which health services are delivered. Demands on the individual have also changed, including the need for the individual to actively participate and plan their personal development.

This chapter explores the notion of ethics and ethical decision-making frameworks in leading and managing health services. Chapter 1 outlined the four sets of skills, or functions, that every manager should possess, which are usually summarised under the acronym POLC: planning, organising, leading and controlling. With leadership being one of the four functions of management, it is important to understand both the management and the leadership aspects of ethical decision-making.

This chapter introduces the world of change management. Firstly, it sets out the case for change – why change management matters – then looks at the theories concerning individual and organisational change. Finally, the role of the professional change manager is discussed.

In contemporary healthcare services, managers are required to create and support environments that are complex in nature and are subject to competing forces that place significant demands on both the system and individuals contributing to productivity. Often, people assume that being held to account is something negative that usually happens only when things go wrong. However, accountability can be viewed as something that can be utilised to ensure success. Holding to account can be difficult if the perceptions and expectations of management and staff differ. We cannot assume that people share the same understanding of what they are accountable for, or the standards expected of them, unless they are made explicit and clear.

The construct of emotional intelligence (EI), also interchangeably referred to as EQ, has engendered considerable scholarly attention within the field of psychology over the past three decades. Despite its significant appeal in business, education and popular literature, EI remains a theme of scientific controversy and investigation. This scrutiny arises from discernible disparities between popular and scholarly interpretations of EI, which are further complicated by the methodological challenge of devising reliable measurement instruments.

Networks, which are defined as groups or systems of interconnected people or things, can be formal and informal in nature and can be applied for different purposes. The capability to network can build influence in groups and organisations to support change or generate new ideas. The process of networking can be seen as a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals, groups and organisations with a common interest. Networking can be applied at a personal level for career and leadership development, at an intraorganisational level for organisational development and at an interorganisational level for research, knowledge management, process improvement and relationship development.

The past three decades have seen the rise of clinical governance, firstly as a concept and ultimately as a system. Increasing knowledge of the scope of iatrogenic harm to consumers, coupled with public inquiries into poor care around the world, is driving the development of governance of clinical care into an established component of corporate governance. Many gains are being realised in Australia, including a reduction in infections and preventable, in-hospital cardiac arrests, improved experience and outcomes for patients, better governance of clinical care and more meaningful involvement of patients and consumers in health care.

In a text on leadership and management in health services, human resource management requires a strategic approach. Health is dominated by a large, diverse and highly professionalised workforce. Human resource management is complex and focuses on the performance effects of human resource systems rather than individual human resource practices. The focus is on systems since employees are exposed to an interrelated set of human resource practices which, in turn, are dependent on other multiple sets of systems within the wider health service.

Building on the concepts of evidence-based medicine, evidence-based management (EBMgmt) suggests that leaders and managers find, evaluate and use the best available scientific evidence to inform their practice. This chapter discusses when and how to look for evidence and outlines how to apply it.

Project management (PM) is a systematic management tool with techniques to bring people and resources together for a single purpose. Since its emergence in the architectural, engineering and building sectors in the early 1900s, PM has been systematically applied to other fields and industries as a common tool in managing work and achieving needed change. The rapidly changing operating environment and the frequent, system-wide and large-scale transformation in the health and community care sector has inevitably changed the PM landscape. In the past 10 years, PM has experienced significant growth in complexity and scope in health and community care. The significant increase in the number of projects undertaken and the investment in developing PM competencies and tools have contributed to the growing project maturity in healthcare organisations. PM has been broadly used to implement change, trial new service models, develop new programs and technologies, and improve organisational structure and care processes.

The healthcare sector is continually confronted with the issue of how to manage with less. In response, health leaders and managers must explore and use new ways to face such challenges. These issues ultimately affect the quality and safety, and the productivity and efficiency, of the health services delivered. Within each organisation, the effectiveness of the leadership and culture directly affect the quality of patient care delivered. To effectively address such challenges, leaders have begun to adopt new strategies and roles that focus on visioning and creativity.

Everyone creates influence during their lives. This may be consciously or unconsciously, through communication, actions or behaviours. A person can be influential through who they are or what they do, such as through their creativity, dependency, vulnerability, position and example. In complex health organisations, we need effective leadership that articulates vision, inspires, provides guidance and influences, and strong management to plan, organise, direct and control. Leaders and managers have different roles, functions and skill sets. These actions may be visionary, inspirational, task-focused, long or short term, through empowerment and supervision. These roles and responsibilities may be different but need to achieve impact in influencing.

Effective leadership and management can have a ‘strong positive influence on workplace empowerment, increase nurses’ job satisfaction and decrease the frequency of adverse patient outcomes’. Healthcare professionals must understand the main theories of leadership and management and how these approaches translate into improving work practices, so that they might develop their own work capacity. This chapter presents leadership and management theories used by healthcare professionals to inform their practice.