• The King's Fund logo

An Introduction to Leading with Kindness and Compassion in Health and Social Care

Develop your understanding of how to lead with compassion and kindness within the health and social care sectors.

17,276 enrolled on this course

Illustration of three hands, each holding a heart

An Introduction to Leading with Kindness and Compassion in Health and Social Care

17,276 enrolled on this course

  • 3 weeks

  • 2 hours per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Introductory level

Find out more about how to join this course

This introductory three-week course from The King’s Fund is for anyone working in or interested in health and social care in its broadest sense, regardless of experience or role.

It’s designed to introduce you to some of the foundations of leadership, kindness, and compassion. You’ll explore why these qualities matter now more than ever, and how to develop your personal practice of kind and compassionate leadership.

Understand why kindness and compassion matter

With so many overlapping pressures facing the health and social care system, and the inequities that many groups continue to experience, kindness and compassion can be hard to practice and sustain.

Research shows a compelling link between compassion in leadership and staff wellbeing, team performance, and better outcomes for patients and service users. The need for kindness and compassion in health and care leadership is increasingly being reflected in national policy work across the UK.

Recognise what kind and compassionate leadership looks like

As well as deepening your understanding and knowledge of leadership in health and care, this course will help you develop your own practice of kind and compassionate leadership.

You’ll hear from leaders and experts from across the health and care system and explore some practical ways that you can develop a compassionate mindset and cultivate kindness and compassion in your relationships with others.

Learn from experts in health and social care from The King’s Fund

Established in 1897, The King’s Fund is an independent charitable organisation working to improve health and care in England.

They have a recognised history of leadership and organisational development in the UK’s health and social care sectors, and you’ll be learning from specialists in these fields throughout.

What topics will you cover?

  • How key concepts relating to kind and compassionate leadership are defined
  • The evidence for improved patient and service user outcomes
  • The evidence for staff wellbeing, performance and innovation
  • The evidence for kind and compassionate leadership in the context of social inequities and social justice
  • Understanding what gets in the way of kind and compassionate leadership
  • How to lead yourself with kindness and compassion
  • How to model kindness and compassion to others

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Engage with the evidence around why kindness and compassion is important for improving outcomes, staff wellbeing and performance and inclusive organisational cultures
  • Reflect on your own leadership behaviours and the behaviours you see around you in the workplace
  • Practice simple and every day techniques to model self-compassion and kindness towards others
  • Discuss the wider systemic issues that prevent kindness and compassion from being present in health and care
  • Explore the different ways in which we define the concepts of leadership, kindness and compassion
  • Begin to develop a personal practice of kind and compassionate leadership

Who is the course for?

This course is primarily suited to:

  • People working in health and social care, regardless of sector, role or seniority.
  • Leaders in the NHS, local government, independent and voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
  • Learners who are thinking about working within the health and social care system
  • Patients, service users and carers who use the health and social care system

Who will you learn with?

I work at The King's Fund as a Senior Consultant in Leadership & Organisational Development. I am also co-founder and Director at The Centre for Patient Leadership

I am a Senior Consultant in the leadership and organisation development team at The King's Fund.

Who developed the course?

The King's Fund

The King’s Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. Its vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.

Ways to learn

Buy this course

Subscribe & save

Limited access

Choose the best way to learn for you!

$109/one-off payment

$27.99

For the first two months. Automatically renews

Free

Fulfill your current learning needDevelop skills to further your careerSample the course materials
Access to this courseticktick

Access expires 9 Apr 2024

Access to 1,000+ coursescrosstickcross
Learn at your own paceticktickcross
Discuss your learning in commentstickticktick
Certificate when you're eligiblePrinted and digitalDigital onlycross
Continue & Upgrade

Cancel for free anytime

Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$27.99

For the first two months. Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$109/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 9 Apr 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

T&Cs apply.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

Learner reviews

Learner reviews cannot be loaded due to your cookie settings. Please and refresh the page to view this content.

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...

You can use the hashtag #KFlead to talk about this course on social media.