title: Do we need medical leadership or medical engagement?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to address issues of medical leadership within health systems and to clarify the associated conceptual issues, for example, leadership versus management and medical versus clinical leadership. However, its principle contribution is to raise the issue of the purpose or outcome of medical leadership, and, in this respect, it argues that it is to promote medical engagement.
  
  
  METHODS
  The approach is to provide evidence, both from the literature and empirically, to suggest that enhanced medical engagement leads to improved organisational performance and, in doing so, to review the associated concepts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Building on current evidence from the UK and Australia, the authors strengthen previous findings that effective medical leadership underpins the effective organisational performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a current imbalance between the size of the databases on medical engagement between the UK (very large) and Australia (small but developing).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors aim to equip medical leaders with the appropriate skill set to promote and enhance greater medical engagement. The focus of leaders in organisations should be in creating a culture that fosters and supports medical engagement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper provides empowerment of medical professionals to have greater influence in the running of the organisation in which they deliver care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The paper contains, for the first time, linked performance data from the Care Quality Commission in the UK and from Australia with the new set of medical engagement findings.
authors.affiliation: Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spurgeon
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daly
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Health leadership initiatives; Leadership; Organizational performance