Accreditation Canada's Leadership Standards help Canadian health care organizations meet the growing demand for excellence in management practice. They are based on research and best practices, and address the management function across and throughout all levels of the organization, rather than individual or position-specific competencies. They clarify the requirements for effective operational and performance management supports, decision-making structures, and the infrastructure needed to drive excellence and quality improvement in health service delivery.
The standards are grouped into four sections. Each section addresses a key management responsibility which organizations, through their leaders, must have in place as part of their pursuit of quality and safety. The approach taken, however, will vary according to the organization's size, structure, and mandate.
The four sections are:
Adapting to the environment: This section addresses the organization's ability to assess trends in the environment, including the service needs of the populations it serves, and to plan its structures, management systems, and services accordingly. It also deals with the organization's relationships with stakeholders and processes to manage change.
Strengthening organizational culture and values: This section addresses identifying, strengthening, and disseminating the organization's culture and values throughout the organization. In particular, it addresses the need for organizations to create a culture that supports worklife balance, patient safety, and quality improvement.
Allocating resources: This section addresses resource acquisition, working with partners to share and optimize resources, decision-making processes to allocate resources fairly and in accordance with organizational priorities, and financial oversight.
Building the infrastructure to achieve positive outcomes: This section addresses the organizational systems and processes needed to deliver high quality services and achieve the organization's goals and objectives, including human resources and performance management systems, and physical environment and information system infrastructure.