title: Distributed leadership, team working and service improvement in healthcare.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to analyse the introduction of distributed leadership and team working in a therapy department in a healthcare organisation and to explore the factors that enabled the introduction to be successful.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper used a case study methodology. Qualitative and quantitative information was gathered from one physiotherapy department over a period of 24 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Distributed leadership and team working were central to a number of system changes that were initiated by the department, which led to improvements in patient waiting times for therapy. The paper identifies six factors that appear to have influenced the successful introduction of distributed learning and team working in this case.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is a single case study. It would be interesting to explore whether these factors are found in other cases where distributed leadership is introduced in healthcare organisations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The paper provides an example of successful introduction of distributed leadership, which has had a positive impact on services to patients. Other therapy teams may consider how the approach may be adopted or adapted to their own circumstances.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although distributed leadership is thought to be important in healthcare, particularly when organisational change is needed, there are very few studies of the practicalities of how it can be introduced.
authors.affiliation: Business School, York St John University, York, UK.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boak
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dickens
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Newson
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013222:State Medicine; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Distributed leadership; Healthcare; Physiotherapy; Service improvement; Team working; Teams