MDT Leadership Development Programme for NHS Cancer Leads
Living Potential are offering a unique development programme for MDT Leads and Chairs that builds personal leadership impact and effectiveness while also delivering MDT quality improvement in our context of national MDT transformation.
A good MDT meeting is well organised, effective and patient centred. It promotes collaboration, communication and shared decision making among the various healthcare professionals involved in patients’ care; effective leadership is central to this aspiration.
MDT Leads chair meetings that make case decisions determining patient care and outcomes. These meetings see diverse clinical specialisms make decisions for 40-60 cases in meetings lasting 1-4 hours. Alongside fatigue, thirst and hunger compromising focus and quality attention, decisions can be unhelpfully influenced by a speciality mindset, a disease rather than patient focus and dominant voices. As well as leading these meetings, MDT leads also have responsibility for audit and continuous quality improvement, involving reviewing outcomes and performance, implementing streamlining and standards of care while working with network partners to maintain SOPs. NHS England now expects MDTs to focus on complex cases, streamline processes and use existing tools more effectively, and strong, skilled leadership is critical to making this shift stick.
This is a unique programme, specifically designed for cancer MDT Leads, providing rigorous leadership development focused solely on MDT improvement and national MDT transformation. It has been piloted and refined across the NEL and SSCA Cancer Alliances, with excellent participant feedback and demonstrable, significant impact on MDT quality and functioning.
Who is the programme is for?
For consultants, senior nurses and colleagues from any clinical discipline who:
Lead or chair cancer MDTs or MDT meetings.
Want to improve meeting quality, safety and efficiency.
Are ready to drive and sustain MDT quality improvement in their service.
What will I gain?
By the end of the programme you will be able to:
Lead high-stakes MDT meetings and facilitate complex clinical decisions with confidence, structure and clarity.
Embed simple, robust processes to monitor MDT quality and implement improvements, including MDT streamlining.
Shift the discussion from purely disease-focused to truly holistic and patient-centred.
Build and sustain a peer network of MDT Leads for ongoing support, challenge and shared learning.
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MDT Cancer Lead Development Programme: Transform the way your MDT thinks, decides and delivers cancer care.
1. Why this programme?
MDTs are under pressure. Time, complexity and human factors threaten decision quality.
NHS England expectations: focus on complex cases, streamline processes, use existing tools.
The programme is uniquely focused on MDT leadership and national MDT transformation.
2. Proven impact across NEL and SSCA Cancer Alliances
Excellent feedback from MDT Leads and senior clinicians.
Greater confidence in chairing complex meetings.
Significant positive impact on MDT functioning and quality improvement.
3. Who it's for
Consultants and senior nurses leading or chairing cancer MDTs.
MDT Leads seeking better meeting quality, safety and efficiency.
Clinicians ready to drive and sustain MDT quality improvement.
4. What you will gain
Confident, structured chairing of high-stakes MDT meetings.
Tools to monitor MDT quality and implement streamlining.
More holistic, patient-centred case discussions.
A peer network of MDT Leads for support and shared learning.
5. Programme at a glance
Duration: 7-month programme with monthly half-day sessions.
Modules: MDT decision making, streamlining and quality improvement, personality and leadership style, chairing complex meetings.
Applied learning: Improvement Groups and a dedicated coaching conversation.
Structure and Time Commitment
The programme will be delivered over a period of 7-months, delivered in c. half-day sessions monthly, and will comprise :
Four half-day modules delivered online. Each module will focus on a specific topic, including, MDT Decision Making, Personality Insights into Leadership, Chairing Meetings and Implementing Streamlining and Quality Improvement.
Two half-day Improvement Groups – small groups of peers working to progress MDT quality improvements
A dedicated coaching conversation with an experienced MDT development coach
Facilitators include leadership development experts, Experienced MDT Leads and local NHS colleagues.
Participants say:
The programme has been a real eye-opener for how we can run MDTs more efficiently, proactively, and with a sharper patient focus. Connecting with colleagues from other hospitals in a safe, honest space was invaluable. I've also come to appreciate how much difference simple soft skills can make to the productivity and overall environment of an MDT.
Extremely useful programme, very interactive and I’ve gained lots of ideas that I want to put into practice
It's been a very pleasant supportive educational environment with a holistic approach as to exploring one's leadership skills and being made aware of assessment tools of MDM practices to help identify areas of good practice and areas that need improvement…I have been involved with MDMs for the last 20 years or so and thought I was an expert by now but I was pleasantly surprised that there is always room for improvement. Having different specialties in the group is very helpful, particularly in sharing good practice. I hope this Development Programme continues and all MDT leads should be encouraged to attend.
Please contact us for further information, or to reserve a place on a future programme.
Any questions?
Please email us at admin@livingpotentialconsulting.com