Abstract:
‘YES WE CAN!’: THE EMERGING CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL WORK LEADERSHIP TO CLINICAL GOVERNANCE AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES David McNabb and Michael Webster Theme: Social work education, research and practice Abstract Since the mid 1980s, state health service restructuring in New Zealand has strengthened managerialism, arguably detracting from clinical and professional considerations. The previous social work departments headed by a professional social worker gave way to the strategic professional leader role without line management responsibilities (McNabb, 2002). A social work contribution to interdisciplinary leadership and clinical governance in mental health settings has emerged, aiming to advance quality improvement. In the context of this transformation, this paper presents the findings of two research projects examining social work leadership in a District Health Board (DHB) mental health services. The first project investigated ways in which social work professional leaders implemented ‘exemplary leadership’ (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). The second project examined the effectiveness of professional supervisors, a new role in social work and allied health offering front line leadership to colleagues and management. Findings indicated that after one year, the professional supervisor role appears to have benefited services and allied health professionals. Using these findings and other research, this paper explores the integrated leadership and clinical governance functionality as a new paradigm strengthening the contribution of social work in DHB clinical governance. Further research on the relationship between social work leadership and clinical governance is proposed.
