Healthcare Leadership and Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Clinical Team Leaders, Department Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HSM-030

Before you join: Participants should have at least one year of experience working in a healthcare, public health, social care or health-support function.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Healthcare services are expected to improve access, safety, patient experience and financial control at the same time. Managers must coordinate clinical teams, support functions, suppliers and community partners while responding to demand pressures, workforce constraints, regulatory requirements and public scrutiny. Leadership decisions affect waiting times, continuity of care, staff retention, incident rates and the confidence patients place in the service.

This course develops the management skills required to lead health services at department, facility, programme or network level. Participants examine health system structures, governance, quality improvement, workforce planning, patient flow, budgeting, performance management and service change. They learn to set clear priorities, use evidence in decisions, run accountable meetings, manage operational risks and communicate effectively with clinicians, executives, patients and external stakeholders.

Teaching combines focused briefings with healthcare cases, facilitated group work, operational simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect hospitals, primary care networks, community health programmes, social care providers and public health services. Participants leave with a practical management pack containing a service improvement charter, stakeholder map, balanced scorecard, risk register, workforce plan and 90-day leadership action plan.

The course suits professionals moving into management roles and established managers seeking a more disciplined approach to leading healthcare teams and services. It is relevant to public, private, not-for-profit and humanitarian health providers.

What you will be able to do

  • Analyse health service performance using health system building blocks and demand-capacity data
  • Apply situational leadership and delegation methods to multidisciplinary healthcare teams
  • Design a service improvement charter using PDSA cycles and measurable outcome indicators
  • Construct a balanced scorecard linking quality, access, workforce and financial measures
  • Prepare a departmental budget and variance analysis for operational management decisions
  • Use risk registers, incident review methods and escalation criteria to strengthen governance
  • Lead stakeholder communication using SBAR briefings, influence mapping and meeting disciplines
  • Produce a 90-day leadership action plan for a priority healthcare service improvement

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Manage multidisciplinary teams with clearer roles, expectations and follow-through
  • Present service performance issues confidently to senior leaders and clinical colleagues
  • Translate quality concerns into measurable improvement actions and review routines
  • Control departmental resources through practical budget and variance management
  • Build a credible leadership plan for an immediate workplace priority

For your organisation

  • Improved accountability for quality, safety, access and financial performance
  • More consistent management of staffing pressures, absence and team workload
  • Stronger escalation of operational risks, incidents and safeguarding concerns
  • Better use of performance data in departmental and service-line decisions
  • Faster implementation of focused service improvement priorities

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can interpret their service’s place within the wider health system and define management accountabilities.

  • WHO health system building blocks mapped to local service responsibilities
  • Service pathways traced from referral, assessment, treatment and follow-up stages
  • Population health needs distinguished from individual patient demand patterns
  • Public, private and not-for-profit provider roles compared systematically
  • Managerial accountability separated from clinical accountability and professional autonomy
  • Health equity considerations incorporated into access, quality and service planning

Participants can lead multidisciplinary teams using clear expectations, delegation and adaptive leadership approaches.

  • Situational Leadership matched to competence, confidence and task complexity
  • Role clarity established through responsibility matrices and team operating agreements
  • Delegation conversations structured around outcomes, authority, boundaries and review points
  • Psychological safety strengthened through respectful challenge and learning-focused feedback
  • Conflict between clinical disciplines addressed using interest-based negotiation techniques
  • Team meetings designed with decision logs, actions and escalation routes

Participants can apply governance and improvement methods to manage quality, safety and patient experience.

  • Donabedian structure, process and outcome measures selected for services
  • PDSA cycles used to test small-scale service improvement changes
  • Incident reporting pathways linked to investigation, learning and action tracking
  • Root cause analysis distinguishes system contributors from individual error
  • Patient experience feedback converted into prioritised service improvement actions
  • Clinical audit findings translated into ownership, deadlines and re-audit plans

Participants can plan staffing requirements and manage individual and team performance fairly.

  • Workload demand estimated from activity volumes, acuity and service standards
  • Skill-mix decisions balanced against quality, cost and supervision requirements
  • Roster patterns reviewed for coverage, fatigue, absence and continuity
  • Performance objectives written using specific measures, deadlines and accountabilities
  • Feedback conversations prepared using observed behaviour, impact and agreed actions
  • Absence and capability concerns managed through documented review processes

Participants can diagnose patient-flow constraints and coordinate practical operational responses.

  • Demand and capacity analysis identifies bottlenecks across patient pathways
  • Process maps reveal delays, handoffs, rework and avoidable waiting
  • Daily huddles coordinate staffing, beds, appointments and escalation decisions
  • Queue management principles applied to outpatient, diagnostic and emergency services
  • Discharge planning starts early with multidisciplinary responsibilities clearly assigned
  • Operational dashboards track waiting times, utilisation, cancellations and throughput

Participants can interpret departmental finances and make informed resource allocation decisions.

  • Cost centres linked to accountable managers, services and expenditure categories
  • Budget assumptions tested against activity forecasts, staffing plans and contracts
  • Variance analysis separates volume, price, staffing and timing effects
  • Fixed and variable costs distinguished for service planning decisions
  • Business cases compare options, costs, benefits, risks and implementation requirements
  • Procurement decisions assessed against specification, quality, value and continuity needs

Participants can convert strategic priorities into managed service changes with measurable benefits.

  • Strategic priorities translated into service objectives, milestones and owners
  • SWOT analysis identifies internal constraints and external service opportunities
  • Stakeholder mapping assesses influence, interest and likely change responses
  • Kotter's change steps adapted for healthcare service improvement programmes
  • Benefits realisation measures baseline performance, targets and review intervals
  • Resistance addressed through consultation, communication, training and visible sponsorship

Participants can use service data to monitor performance, investigate variation and take action.

  • Balanced scorecards connect patient, workforce, quality and financial indicators
  • Leading indicators distinguished from lagging indicators in service reviews
  • Run charts identify trends, shifts and unusual performance variation
  • Performance review meetings focus on causes, decisions and accountable actions
  • Data quality checks test completeness, timeliness, definitions and anomalies
  • Escalation thresholds set for deteriorating safety, access and capacity measures

Participants can communicate decisions clearly and build productive relationships across care partners.

  • SBAR briefings structure concise recommendations for urgent management decisions
  • Stakeholder engagement plans identify messages, channels, owners and timing
  • Patient and family concerns handled through listening, explanation and follow-up
  • Cross-agency meetings align responsibilities for complex care transitions
  • Influence strategies tailored to executives, clinicians, regulators and community representatives
  • Difficult conversations prepared using facts, empathy, boundaries and documented agreements

Participants can create a disciplined 90-day plan for improving their leadership and service performance.

  • Leadership self-assessment identifies strengths, gaps and priority development behaviours
  • Personal priorities aligned with service goals, risks and performance measures
  • Ninety-day action plans specify milestones, sponsors, resources and review dates
  • RACI charts assign responsibility, accountability, consultation and information requirements
  • Reflection routines capture decisions, outcomes, feedback and lessons learned
  • Peer accountability arrangements sustain action after the course concludes

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Healthcare service improvement charter
  2. Multidisciplinary team operating agreement template
  3. Departmental balanced scorecard
  4. Operational risk and escalation register
  5. Workforce demand and skill-mix planning worksheet
  6. 90-day healthcare leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Clinical Team Leaders — need practical methods for managing people, performance and service pressures
  • Department Managers — require stronger control of budgets, patient flow and improvement priorities
  • Nurse Managers — coordinate staffing, quality standards and multidisciplinary care delivery
  • Primary Care Managers — manage access, referral pathways and community-based service performance
  • Health Programme Officers — translate programme targets into managed workplans and accountable delivery
  • Social Care Service Managers — strengthen coordination with health providers and safeguarding partners

Skills and tools covered

Health service leadershipQuality improvementWorkforce managementOperational planningHealthcare governancePerformance measurement

Tools and standards

WHO Health System Building Blocks, Plan-Do-Study-Act, Donabedian Model, SBAR

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce management methods, followed by healthcare cases, group exercises and facilitated discussion. Participants interpret service data, prioritise risks, plan staffing responses and practise conversations with clinicians, patients and senior decision-makers. Simulations address patient-flow disruption, quality incidents and constrained budgets. Trainers adapt examples to the cohort’s service setting while keeping methods applicable to hospitals, primary care, community services and social care. Each participant develops an application plan for a current management challenge.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least one year of experience working in a healthcare, public health, social care or health-support function. They should understand their service’s basic purpose, main patient or client groups, reporting relationships and routine operational challenges. Previous line-management experience is helpful but not essential; participants may be preparing for their first formal management role. No clinical qualification, finance specialism, prior leadership course or advanced statistical knowledge is required. Participants should be ready to discuss a real service issue from their workplace.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience working in healthcare, public health, social care or a related support function. The course does not require a clinical qualification or previous formal management training.

Bring a current service challenge, such as a waiting-time issue, staffing concern, quality problem or change initiative. You may also bring non-confidential performance reports or process information to support your planning.

It is suited to current and aspiring managers responsible for teams, services, programmes or operational functions. Clinical and non-clinical professionals will both find the management methods relevant.

Clinical leadership courses commonly focus on professional influence, clinical decision-making and patient care leadership. This course places greater emphasis on managing services, people, budgets, operations, performance and organisational change.

You will leave with templates and a 90-day action plan linked to a real management priority. The methods can be used in team meetings, service reviews, improvement work, budget discussions and stakeholder communications.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, healthcare cases, group exercises, simulations, discussion and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

Related courses in Health Systems Management