Clinical Leadership at Circle

How we develop healthcare leaders

It seems obvious: decisions involving patient care should be made by the people best qualified to deliver that care. Yet across the healthcare sector, it happens surprisingly rarely. At Circle, every patient interaction is led by clinicians. We call it "Clinical Leadership".

Clinical leadership truly allows us to be "the agents of our patients." It means any decision is based on what's best for the patient, and not financial or operational concerns. Clinical leadership puts patients at the centre.

This principle is backed by a structure. At every level within Circle, administrative and managerial staff are paired with clinicians of equivalent seniority. A departmental manager works alongside the Clinical Lead for that department. And the general manager of one of our hospitals works with a senior consultant with equal responsibility for the hospital. Regular meetings and information-sharing are mandatory.

Such pairings go all the way up - but they're not a vertical hierarchy. Across clinical specialities, people responsible for the same function meet regularly to exchange information and ideas. Out of these meetings come increased professional development, interdepartmental understanding, and best practices rolled out across the organisation.

That's Clinical Leadership. And we believe it's the best way to run a healthcare organisation.