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20 September 2017
Executive Leadership in Management Training for Medical Directors of Lagos State General Hospitals
The Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) and Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF) in collaboration with the Lagos State government organized a two-day Leadership in Management training for Medical Directors of the General Hospitals in Lagos State on the 15th and 16th of September 2017. A step forward in the government’s healthcare reform agenda, the workshop was aimed at building the leadership capacities of the Medical Directors to address the complexities of a fast-evolving health care system to ensure a focus on patient-centered care and world-class service delivery standards across their health facilities. The two-day event was opened by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris.
Leadership is key to achieving success in all sectors including healthcare, therefore building leadership potential and capacity for leaders in Healthcare is key to any transformative agenda. This was a premise for the just concluded Leadership in Management training, an initiative of the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) and Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF). The two-day event was a bespoke management training held for the Medical Directors of the 26 General Hospitals in Lagos State on the 15th and 16th of September at Regency Suites in Ikeja in Lagos and was opened by the Honourable Commissioner of health for Lagos state, Dr. Jide Idris.
Dr. Idris stated there had been improvements and significant upgrades in the Health System in Lagos under his leadership through a comprehensive health reform agenda. He highlighted some of the specific achievements included strong policy direction for health development and the facilitation of relevant regulatory frameworks. Addressing the big picture, he indicated that the goal of these reforms was to improve the quality of care and to ensure that care and healthcare delivery in Lagos State is centered on the patient. Furthermore, these steps in regulatory policies and leadership development were to prepare the healthcare system for the successful implementation of the proposed health insurance scheme for the State. This necessitated the training to build the leadership and management capacities of the Medical Directors of the General Hospitals in Lagos.
The training event was designed and facilitated by the Healthcare leadership academy and its partner organization, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF). HSDF has been supporting the Lagos State government in various programs and capacities including improving its performance management (to enable the state to make better data-driven decisions). It is also working with the state on its malaria surveillance programs and engaging with private sector facilities through building networks and strengthening alliances that can aid in shared learning and peer support. Its Quality improvement unit has also been actively engaged in working closely with government hospitals to improve the quality of care and delivery to help improve maternal and neonatal care.
The Health Care Leadership Academy (HLA) Executive lead Dr. Hala Daggash, commented on the role of the HLA in building accountable and capable leaders to steward the Nigerian healthcare system towards global best practice and patient-centered care. She stated that the goal and mission of the HLA were to empower healthcare professionals with the requisite skills to address context-specific health system challenges. Working alongside the government and HSDF, its role was to build the capacity of the leaders and front line workers in Lagos State and was currently working with the public sector in 7 other states of Nigeria and across more states with private-sector health organizations.
Further iterating the importance of such activities, the Commissioner acknowledged that most Medical doctors were not trained to be good managers but the need for basic managerial and leadership skills was now imperative as the health system continues to evolve and become more complex. In his words “because the system is quite complex, the leaders must find a way to address these complexities to ensure patients receive the best care.” He stated that the training program for the Managing Directors of these General Hospitals in Lagos state has created an opportunity to enhance their capabilities to lead in an evolving health care delivery environment. He acknowledged the collaborative relationship between the State, HSDF, and HLA and its importance for sustainable development and improvement of the health system in Lagos. Ultimately the program is expected to benefit Lagosians through improved service delivery and better patient-centered care.
The training was facilitated by recognized HR and leadership experts including Habiba Balaogun, Adeboye Martins, and Nneka Mobison. The program ended with the MDs utilising the tools and methods from the training to develop immediate and longer term goals and plans for their facilities.
Overall, the program is expected to benefit Lagosians ultimately through improved service delivery and practices and increased high quality patient centred care. The training was facilitated by recognized HR and leadership experts including Habiba Balaogun, Adeboye Martins and Nneka Mobison. The program ended with the MDs utilizing the tools and methods from the training to develop immediate and longer term goals and plans for their facilities.
