mental toughness sectors
Mental toughness benefits for the health sector
Although the National Health Service budget has not been subject to the same level of cuts as other public sector services, it is certainly falling in real terms. Budget implications, plus the emergence of Practice Based Commissioning Groups (PBCGs) and the eventual abolition of primary care trusts (PCTs), herald a period of major change for the health service. This will require steady change management and tough choices.
If you are an NHS trust chief executive or PBCG 'lead', you can use mental toughness when:
- Performance improvement is required
- Your senior leadership team is new and untested
- A new organisation is to be created from multiple GP practices
- You need to rapidly create a change programme to implement budget freezes
- Greater accountability is required from senior leaders
- You are facing significant resource cuts whilst having to maintain service levels
- Improved delegation and decision-making skills are required
- Your staff are suffering the adverse effects of higher stress levels
- Productivity and efficiency gains are needed to offset the impact of budget freezes
- You need to instil a 'can-do' attitude
- Staff motivation and morale are low
- You and your senior leadership team have tough decisions to make and implement
The benefits to health service providers of a mental toughness programme created and delivered by JHK are:
- Improved performance
- Consolidating and developing a new management team
- The creation of an effective change management strategy
- Reduced stress, and a reduction of the negative impact of stress
- Maintained, or increased, service delivery
- Empowered, capable, decisive and motivated managers
- Increased productivity and efficiency
- Budget savings
- Staff retention, improved morale and increased motivation
- Senior leaders who accept responsibility, take timely, effective decisions and are more accountable