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Healthcare Strategy

Healthcare Strategy, Planning and Execution

Practical tools for developing and executing strategic projects and plans in healthcare organisations

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About this course

At some point in your career as a healthcare leader or manager you will be asked to prepare a strategic plan – a roadmap for the future of your department, service or organisation that sets out your goals and describes both your action plan for achieving them and how you will measure your progress. This task might seem daunting initially, yet it is surprisingly easy to develop a robust strategic plan that re-energises your team and enhances their performance – provided you use the right tools and methods, and use them properly.

Delivered via IHLM’s online learning platform and through live interactive Zoom webinars, this 8-week course will provide you with a highly personalised and participative learning experience during which you’ll explore the essential elements that make a strategic plan effective and be guided, step-by-step, through each stage of the strategic planning process.

What you’ll learn

On completion of this course you’ll be able to:

  • Understand Your Strategic Position – through detailed analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
  • Formulate Your Strategy – by evaluating and choosing properly from all the available options
  • Make Your Strategy Happen – through the practical actions that have to be undertaken in order to execute it successfully

How you’ll learn

This course is broken down into eight weekly modules:

  • work at your own speed through a carefully curated collection of self-paced online learning materials that include video lectures, podcasts, interviews and real-world case studies
  • evidence-based research from peer-reviewed publications will help you dig more deeply into topics that really interest you
  • you are not alone – you will interact with other course members, collaborate on learning activities and get direct feedback and coaching from the course leader during weekly Zoom webinars
  • earn professional certification by completing weekly learning activities and mini-projects

This course should take approximately 4 – 6 hours per week.  You can expect to devote about 1 – 2 hours per week to self-paced learning, 1 – 2 hours per week preparing for and participating in the webinar and 1 – 2 hours per week applying your knowledge through learning activities and mini-projects.  Every webinar is recorded so you can rewatch it at any time.

Who should take this course?

This is a highly practical and interactive course that will benefit anyone who needs to be able to lead or participate in the strategic planning process in a healthcare system or organisation. It provides detailed coverage of all of the essential tools, concepts and models used in strategy. Throughout the course there are allocated time slots allowing ample opportunities to practice the principles being taught using learning activities and case studies.

About the certificates

Upon successful completion of the course you’ll receive an:

  • IHLM Certificate of CPD Completion – This may be useful for course members who belong to professional bodies that have Continuing Professional Development requirements.  The course has an estimated 48 hours of guided learning.
  • IHLM Professional Certificate in Healthcare Strategy, Planning and Execution – This is evidence of the skills and capabilities you’ve developed during the course.  The award of a professional certificate requires completion of learning activities and mini-projects during each module.

How to register

Ready to start?  Just click the ‘Register now’ button at the top of this page or use the ‘Ask us a question’ button if you’d like to talk to the course director.  The fee for this course is £995 per person, excluding VAT.  If you’d like to pay in instalments you can arrange this by contacting us at: registration@ihlm.org.

We provide discounts to organisations registering 3 or more staff in the course and can also provide a customised in-house version tailored to your organisation’s specific needs.

All registrations are subject to our terms and conditions which are available here. By registering for an IHLM course you are accepting these terms and conditions and agreeing to be bound by them.

Part 1: Understanding Your Strategic Position

What is strategy? And what makes a plan (and the process by which we develop and execute that plan) ‘strategic’? In Part 1 of the programme we learn the tools and techniques with which healthcare leaders and managers can evaluate the strategic position of their service or organisation: by understanding both it’s strategic potential (what it can do) and its strategic ambitions (what it actually wants to do).

  • Module 1: What Are Strategy and Strategic Planning? – Discover what strategy and strategic planning are and the processes they involve.
  • Module 2: Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? – Identify the distinctive purpose and focus of your service or organisation and communicate your ambitions in a compelling statement of your mission, vision and values.
  • Module 3: Understanding The Healthcare Environment – Investigate how the opportunities and challenges in the world around you affect both the demand for healthcare and the way it is delivered.
  • Module 4: Understanding Your Healthcare Organisation – Learn to ‘know’ your service or organisation better by thoroughly analysing its strengths and weaknesses.

Part 2: Formulating Your Strategy

In Part 2 of the programme we examine the strategic options available to a healthcare manager. These include the adaptive choices of whether to expand, contract or maintain the scope of an organisation or department’s services; the methods by which to pursue these choices and how to compete in a competitive healthcare marketplace.

  • Module 5: Generating Strategic Options – Understand the major strategic options and choices available to a healthcare organisation or service, then create a shortlist of options that could be suitable for you.
  • Module 6: Evaluating and Selecting Strategic Options – Use appropriate criteria to evaluate and choose from among your different strategic options.

Part 3: Making Your Strategy Happen

In Part 3 of the programme we consider the many practical tasks that have to be undertaken in order to actually execute a strategy or strategic plan successfully. These include communicating the strategy effectively, getting support from others, taking all the necessary actions and measuring success.

  • Module 7: Strategic Leadership – Identify how effective healthcare leaders motivate their colleagues and win the support of stakeholders.
  • Module 8: Communicating the Strategy – Understand the importance of sharing and explaining your goals effectively in order to inspire others and align their work with your strategy.
  • Module 9: Organising for Success – Learn how strategic healthcare leaders turn strategies into plans or action.
  • Module 10: Monitoring, Reviewing and Rewarding – Discover how the progress of strategic plans can be measured and how effort and success can be recognised.

 

Course Leader

Benedict Stanberry

Course Factfile

  • Next session: 2 September 2025
  • Duration: 8 weeks
  • Commitment: 4-6 hours a week
  • Qualification: Certificate
  • Cost: £995
  • Location: Online

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