Your Name Rachael Jones
Programme of Study and Course Provider Coaching and Leadership (APP768) University of Plymouth
Dates covered by this Report September 2023 - September 2025
To help ensure the continued success of the ELF Fellowship Programme, we ask all recipients to complete an Evaluation Report at the end of their course, or on a yearly basis for courses which last longer than one year.
Your responses will be used to help us understand to impact of the Fellowship Programme, to inspire future Fellowship applicants and to update the charity’s supporters on the use of their donations. If you have been supported by a named donor, we will also share your Report with them, involving you where possible. Please bear this in mind when writing your answers, as the more detail you give, the more we can inspire others.
If you prefer your Report is not shared publicly, is anonymised or redacted in any way, please note this in the final section. We may still ask if we can use individual quotes from your report, but will only do so with your knowledge and agreement.
1. How did you make the decision to study this course with this particular provider? We are interested in knowing what helped you to make the decision to apply, and where and what to study?
At the time of applying for the module, I had completed year one of my three-year part-time Masters course in Advanced Professional Practice at the University of Plymouth. I completed my undergraduate degree at Plymouth and knew of its reputation for clinically-relevant and applicable healthcare education. I chose coaching and leadership as at the time of applying I was a Haematology ward sister and wished to develop my skills as a leader but also as a coach to help to develop my team as we had a number of junior staff joining the unit. I had completed a few leadership courses before, such as the Healthcare Leadership Academy, but no post-graduate study in this area and felt it would be useful to pull together the learning I had from the courses to a masters module to support my future practice at this level.
2. How important was it that financial support was available to you? Do you think you still would have undertaken the course if you had not received this Fellowship?
The financial support has been incredibly important in undertaking this course. Without it, I would have had to delay starting year 2 of my masters and do not think I would have undertaken this module in particular in the future due to other training requirements. However, I have been able to now move on to further study that is required for my role to the benefit of the patients that I look after.
3. What was your overall impression of the course (or the course to date, if applicable)? What are some of the key learning points?
This module was particularly useful due to the diversity of students from regional heads of services to physios to ward managers. This was hugely beneficial and created real variety in discussion at the study days. The lecturers were passionate about their subject and had had a lot of experience in the area.
We spent a lot of time learning about ourselves as leaders and reflecting on the skills we had so far and what we needed to develop as leaders. We critically appraised the literature regarding leadership development tools and learnt that internal coaching plays a key role in complex organisations such as the NHS in developing individuals and creating sustainable culture change. Furthermore, although outwardly many NHS Trusts support coaching, Trust policy does not always reflect this support and is needed to ensure that individual coaching is given the time and resources required.
4. What will the impact be on your career and/or on the experience of your patients?
Since completing the module, I was successful in obtaining a new role in the Haematology department as a Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner (tACP) in March 2024. Leadership is one of the four pillars of advanced practice as defined by Health Education England and doing this module was undoubtedly a key factor in my success in being appointed.
Following the module, I have a better understanding of how both individuals and teams are developed and have used this learning to support our junior team members in the department to enable them lead and develop patient care.
This year, a large proportion of our team went on maternity leave. Myself and another trainee ACP have stepped up to lead the service throughout this time, undertaking a variety of leadership and management responsibilities for which the course was invaluable. It will also be a stepping stone for myself for future leadership roles within the service.
5. Please indicate if you prefer any of this report to be anonymised or not shared publicly.
NA