Leadership In Health And Social Care Essay

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, so too has the role of leadership and decision making in care settings. Leaders in this field face increasingly complex and interrelated challenges that require thoughtful planning, effective communication, and sound judgment. This essay will explore the different types and styles of leadership and decision making in a care setting and how it can impact the quality of teamworking.

Thera are 3 main types of leadership styles, autocratic, participative and delegative. Autocratic leadership style exerts high levels of control over staff. There is limited input from the team and decisions are made mostly by the leader. It is a directive style with instructions and tasks given that are expected

Staff have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This can also, in some settings, have a negative effect on teams as it discourages individual creativity resulting in low motivation (REFFERANCE). Participative leadership is where the team are encouraged to work together. It is a collective approach to decision making and shared ownership of meeting goals. There are discussions with the manager supervising team decision making. This increases interaction between team member and allows for inclusion from the whole team. In a healthcare setting this allows for effective problem solving, drawing on each individuals expertise and allowing for mutual respect. This only works well however if there is enough time to have discussions and reach a mutual agreement and plan. It can cause conflict between team members who have different opinions and views and teams may not be able to reach consensual decisions (REFFERANCE). Delegative leadership looks at the individuals having the freedom to make their own decisions and to solve

Routine decisions are those that follow policy and procedures, while non-routine decisions require clinical reasoning and judgement following best practice guidelines. Group decision-making is also common in these settings, as decisions often involve MDT (Multi-disciplinary team) input. One useful theory for understanding routine decisions is Simon's bounded rationality model (REFERRANCE), which suggests that people make decisions within a limited set of options due to cognitive and time constraints. In contrast, non-routine decisions often require more complex decision-making models, such as the Vroom-Yetton-Jago decision model (REFERANCE), which considers factors such as decision quality, time constraints, and team member input. Group decision-making in healthcare settings can be looked at using social decision scheme theory, which highlights the importance of social and group dynamics in the decision-making processes. It suggests that group members rely on shared ideas and values to make decisions, and that teamworking and communication can have a significant impact on the outcome of