Leading Primary Care: Tales from the Leadership Hikers

’I am truly delighted to be recommending this book and suite of resources to you - I trust that you will find them as inspiring and thought provoking as I have done’

Prof Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard DBE PhD FRCGP FLSW

Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

This new book of leadership narratives portrays the reality of driving change within primary care, making it a valuable resource for a broad primary care audience. It empowers both clinicians and non-clinicians by helping them recognise and harness their leadership qualities. The book weaves together stories from diverse primary care practitioners operating at different levels from junior to senior, in both clinical practice and large-scale operations. These narratives showcase how these professionals applied their leadership skills, navigated challenges, and distilled valuable lessons from their experiences.

To enhance the reader’s understanding, the editors have added their own insights to each contribution, emphasising the lessons that the broader community can glean. Rather than reiterating theoretical concepts, they refer back to their companion book, The Leadership Hike.

Key Features

• Transforms theoretical leadership principles into practical applications through real-life experiences in contemporary primary care
• Appeals to individuals at all stages of training and practice by offering real-world examples from a diverse array of primary care professionals
• Addresses a wide range of subjects to empower a cross-section of the primary care team
• Highlights areas of significant change within the primary care workforce, motivating current and future leaders to shape the future
• Encourages self-reflection through thought-provoking questions, prompting readers to apply the lessons in their own leadership journeys
• Complementing the book, podcast interviews with the authors can be found at https: //elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=13316

When read independently or alongside The Leadership Hike, this book serves as an invaluable reference for all team members, regardless of clinical background. It is especially pertinent for GP trainees and trainers, given the incorporation of leadership and quality improvement into the licensing qualification for general practice (MRCGP).

Amar Rughani was a GP in Chapelgreen Practice, Sheffield for over 30 years, with senior roles in GP education, examining and curriculum development. He was Provost of the RCGP in South Yorkshire and North Trent, during which time he encouraged inclusiveness and diversity in the team.

Joanna Bircher is a GP in Greater Manchester. She is Clinical Director of Greater Manchester GP Excellence Programme, a Generation Q Fellow of the Health Foundation, an RCGP Clinical Adviser and is co-author of the RCGP Guide to Quality Improvement.