A new network in NHS North West is supporting and encouraging emerging clinical leaders – from junior doctors to nurses and allied health professionals.

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Shruti Garg, a specialist registrar in adolescent psychiatry and a medical leadership trainee, helped to set up the network. “In the last couple of years there's been a lot more emphasis on encouraging people like junior doctors to take on leadership roles,” she explains.

“There are a lot of junior doctors who want to find out more about leadership, but haven’t had the chance yet. So we formed the network to share knowledge, learn from people’s experiences and to inspire others to do so making the important link between leadership and improvement

Multi-disciplinary network
Launched in January 2010, the Emerging Clinical Leaders Network (eCLN) is aimed at all emerging leaders in the North West, not just junior doctors. “Our group has evolved since initially conceived so not we are a multidisciplinary team now involving doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.
Who are these emerging leaders? “The network is for people who are doing clinical roles and also want to take on some sort of leadership role within their organisation,” says Shruti. “They are people who are striving to take on a leadership role, to give back something back to their organisation
and patients.”

“So they might be nurses, AHPs,or doctors in the early stages of their careers. To begin with, we're working with the Junior Doctor Advisory Team at the Deanery, Leadership Fellows and the Medical Leadership Programme trainees to make sure that we have representatives from each of the groups involved.”

Making connections
Shruti and the other founding members of the network hope that it will be a hub of activity for emerging leaders. “We'll have a quarterly newsletter with stories of emerging leaders to inspire other colleagues across the region,” she says. “And we also want to act as a point of contact to help people to take on leadership roles locally.”

“Lots of junior doctors and nurses that we know want to make improvements but they don't know which door to knock on or where to go. There are a lot of established links that they can use to pursue their leadership aims. The network can put them in touch with the right people, not just in our own organisation but in the wider system.”

Next steps
Shruti and her colleagues are currently seeking funding for the network and have enjoyed support from NHS North West. “The North West has always been a pioneer when it comes to leadership,” she says. “It piloted the Clinical Leaders Network (CLN) and the SHA is very supportive of clinical
leadership and engagement.” The vision is that emerging leaders will eventually go on to form part of the CLN as senior leaders in the North West.
In March 2010, the eCLN will hold its first conference to spread the word about the network and discover more about the factors affecting emerging leaders across the region. “I think junior doctors, junior clinicians and emerging leaders throughout the country are waking up to the fact that
we're an untapped resource,” says Shruti. “We anticipate a lot of interest in the network.”