Latest news with #LizaCollins
South Wales Argus
05-07-2025
- Health
- South Wales Argus
Liza Collins on the meaning of relational leadership in NHS
It was inspiring, but many were left wondering: what does that actually mean in practice, especially on a busy NHS ward or in an overstretched community team? Relational leadership is more than a buzzword. It's a mindset and a practice, one that might just hold the key to a healthier future for our NHS teams. At its heart, relational leadership is about how we show up in relationships at work. Not as titles, hierarchies or roles, but as people. It asks us to move beyond command-and-control styles and towards connection, curiosity and care. To lead with both clarity and compassion. To listen more. To build trust and rebuild it when it's broken. That may sound idealistic, but the evidence tells us otherwise. Teams thrive when people feel safe to speak up. They perform better, innovate more and recover faster from setbacks. This is what psychological safety looks like: an environment where you can share ideas or admit mistakes without fear. But here's the catch: it does not happen by accident. It is created, moment by moment, through how we treat one another. A good relational leader is not always the loudest or most confident voice in the room. They are often the most consistent. They notice the tone. They welcome feedback. They understand that a difficult conversation handled well is a form of leadership. They recognise that it takes time to build trust, and only a moment to lose it. When leadership is too harsh, trust is lost. When it's too absent, people flounder. Relational leadership strikes the balance, with clear boundaries and human connection. In the NHS, we already understand relational care. We know the difference a kind word or a thoughtful gesture makes. The challenge now is to extend that same humanity into how we lead. Because the truth is, we do not change workplace culture by policy alone. We change it through everyday relationships. So, if we want a thriving NHS for the future, we must ask: what kind of leaders, and teammates, are we choosing to be? Liza Collins, MA, FRSA NHS Culture Strategist and Future of Healthcare Executive Leadership Coach
South Wales Argus
06-06-2025
- Health
- South Wales Argus
NHS patient care starts with caring for colleagues
That is why we need to talk honestly about something that doesn't often make the headlines: culture. Behind every decision, diagnosis, or delay, there are human beings, both patients and staff, doing their best in a system under strain. But when the workplace culture is poor, fearful, rushed, dismissive, that strain becomes something more dangerous. It becomes unsafe. Maria's Movement is a stark example. In the final chapter of her life, Maria didn't receive the care she needed. Her family's concerns were brushed aside. Consultants assumed they knew best. And the staff around her, though well-intentioned, were afraid to speak up or challenge decisions. It wasn't a lack of skill or kindness. It was the culture. Culture isn't a buzzword. It is the invisible thread that shapes how people behave when the pressure is on. It's whether staff feel safe to speak up. Whether people are listened to. Whether the patient and their family feel like they matter. And when that thread unravels, care suffers. When NHS staff feel respected, supported and able to raise concerns, patients get better care. When staff are burnt out, fearful, or ignored, the risk of harm rises, and so does the heartbreak. I began my NHS career more than 30 years ago in South Wales. I wasn't clinical, I worked in admin, but even then, there was an unspoken standard: you care for every patient like they are a member of your family. You felt it in the way teams treated each other, in the pride they took in their work. That spirit shaped everything. Today, we need to bring that spirit back not just through posters or pledges, but by changing the conditions staff work in. That means creating real psychological safety. Listening with humility. And treating staff wellbeing as essential to patient safety, not an optional extra. When we care better for our staff, staff care better for our patients. It really is that simple. We're living through a time of huge change in the NHS. But no matter how much the system evolves, one thing must stay the same: people deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect on both sides of the bed. The culture of our healthcare system isn't a background issue. It is the care. And when we get that right, we all feel the difference. Liza Collins, MA, FRSA, is Future of Healthcare Executive Leadership Coach and NHS Leadership Academy Executive Coach.
