Abstract
PURPOSE: This paper aims to briefly review leadership within the contemporary UK National Health Services (NHS) including Department of Health and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) initiatives. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: It is argued that the concept of clinical leadership is a viable and important one, and is theoretically consistent with the contemporary social psychological literature on the importance of "local" leadership to effective organizational functioning. Field theory proposes that local influences (e.g. local management) on attitudes and behaviour will to a large extent mediate the impact of the organization (e.g. organisational structure and values) on (in this instance) health care delivery. FINDINGS: The reality of clinical leadership must involve a judicious blend effective management in the conventional sense with skill in transformational change in order to make real difference to the care delivery process. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: For leadership initiatives to become truly culturally embedded into the "way we do things around here", they require more than just individual training and development. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: A view is offered for the practical interpretation of the clinical leadership concept in relationship terms. This will involve management of the relationship between health care professionals, between health care professionals and the "organizations" to which they are accountable and between health care professionals and service users.