Practice managers have the potential to take real leadership in practice. But to do that they must first develop the drive to assume positions of power.
That was the key opening message when Management in Practice came to Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall this week for one of its regular live Events. Delivering the message was Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas, a leading figure in modern management and business thinking.
Underlying the drive to lead and effect change must be a true and powerful vision of what the business of general practice is and can become. When a few members of the packed audience looked quizzical at this assertion, Prof Coulson-Thomas drew a powerful analogy in its defence:
“Just a few years ago accountancy and law firms were run as professional concerns by the partners, with the business aspects administrated by somewhat lowly clerical staff; nowadays most are all run as businesses by nonpractising, high-powered CEOs. Managers in primary care now have the potential similarly to lead and run their practices as successful businesses in coming years.”
To achieve that goal, he continued, managers must first firmly unite to establish their work as a proper profession, not just an occupation, and that requires establishing a uniform identity, setting and achieving appropriate, standardised qualifications, self-regulation and representation to healthcare and governmental bodies.
That vision of the future and the requirements to achieve it were among the many matters considered in the various presentations, debates and workshops held throughout the Event’s daylong programme.
Hundreds of delegates, overwhelmingly practice managers, from Greater Manchester, the northwest and further afield, took the rare and valuable opportunity to come together to hear and discuss the issues and learn how they can help themselves to professionalise, lead in practice and, ultimately, contribute to better healthcare delivery and improved patient care.
For information on future Management in Practice Events, click here
