Over the past year, the importance of leadership has become a centre point for discussion in many organisations. The global Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to reinvent services, develop strategies to keep businesses and services going in times of constant change and flux and managers had to find ways to reach out to staff who are home based. We have all learned a lot about workforce management, dealing with uncertainty, and working in an environment where Health and Social Care is being transformed. 

At Bournemouth University, we have always collaborated with practice partners to develop research and teaching and we too had to adapt to working in a virtual sphere. With the advent of new team members, we have increased expertise in Leadership and Management and we aim to: 

• Create learning cultures by introducing and reflecting on leadership theories in the context of Health and Social Care 
• Develop leadership communities to share knowledge, experience and expertise 
• Build bridges across academia and practice to develop the leadership capacity of staff in health and social care at all levels 

As the National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work, we are excited and pleased to announce our first Leadership Conference, to be held 9th December 2021. 

The conference will be delivered online and address these key themes:

1. How do we manage leadership in a post-Covid environment? 
2. What happens if change is forced upon us?
3. Who did well and what were the differences? 

Through close cooperation with our colleagues from the Pan-Dorset & Wiltshire Social Work Teaching Partnership and the Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust, we will develop a programme that will meet the needs for leadership development on a local and national level. We will address: 

• Strategic leadership 
• Authentic leadership 
• Integrated services 
• Situational leadership  
• Compassionate leadership 
• Resilience and wellbeing – the impact on performance 

The conference will be aimed at managers and leaders at all levels within Health and Social Care settings. Although we recognise that leaders in practice don’t always come with a management job title, they are the glue that keeps the teams together and ensure that services continue to run and reach out to their colleagues in need of support.  

Please contact Tilia Lenz at lenzt@bournemouth.ac.uk if you have any queries.