Reviews / 2022
Leadership for a collaborative and inclusive future
General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard · work from 2021 · published 2022
What this was
Review of leadership across health and social care. It called for a single set of management standards, collaborative behaviour, and equality and diversity as a performance issue rather than a side programme.
Why it sits in the hub
Thirlwall in 2026 was still asking for the management code to put patients first, and for regulation of managers. Messenger is the agreed standard that regulation would enforce.
Findings
Finding 1
Leadership standards differed by organisation, and equality was not treated as part of how leaders are judged.
Recommendations in this hub
Paraphrase of the public recommendations, not the official text.
- 1Partly doneNHS England
Introduce one set of behaviour-based standards and appraisal for managers.
A leadership and management framework followed. Thirlwall asked for it to be amended so that patient safety is the first duty.
- 2Partly doneICBs and providers
Make collaborative leadership across organisational boundaries a requirement, not a preference.