Leadership for patient-centred care

Patient-centred care is a policy goal in many health systems, but what kind of leadership is needed to make it happen? We begin by defining terms, reviewing the policy context for patient-centred care and assessing its extent in practice, with particular reference to the English National Health Service. We review the literature on leadership for patient-centred care. It suggests that patient-centred care needs committed, senior leadership, which is collaborative and distributed, which attends closely to data and intelligence on patient experience, and which helps nurture open, positive organisational cultures. An emerging theme is the role and potential of patient leadership. These findings are tentative. We find that the literature is relatively small and disparate and in need of further development to guide practice. We consider the implications of the current literature for healthcare practice, largely in a UK context, and the further research that would help illuminate this field.