The role of leadership in times of systems disruption: a qualitative study of health and social care integration

Abstract

This rapid case study underscores the role of leadership in large systems change efforts, particularly in times of major disruption. Project leadership overcame barriers to integration highlighted by prior studies, including engaging with aversion to clinical/safety risk, fostering distributed leadership and developing shared organisational practices for data sharing and service delivery. These insights offer considerations for future efforts to support strategic integration of health and social care.