Leading in the regional office

Regions in some form are likely to continue to exist in the NHS whatever further reorganizations may take place. The tasks of monitoring what is happening and of taking remedial, or, even better, preventive, action cannot be done efficiently at the head office of a very large organization. This is especially true where the aim is to have common policies applied throughout the organization The centre of the NHS is also too far away to know what is happening in the field, which is often essential information for making realistic implementable policies. So the question of regional leadership will always arise, though some may argue that with maximum devolution to the field there is no need for it.