Go further: Healthcare Leaders' Fellowship

Developing confident leaders who can identify opportunities for improvement and deliver complex change that creates measurable impact

In today’s environment, you’re expected to do more than deliver incremental improvement. You need to respond to complex challenges, recognise where new opportunities are emerging, and turn them into meaningful results, often while navigating rapid advances in technologies such as AI.

This programme is designed to help you do exactly that.

One integrated programme

This programme combines:

• Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship (Level 5, ST0555)

• AI Strategy and Opportunity unit (AU0009)

Together, they create a single, integrated programme focused on leading improvement and transformation in practice.

On completion, you will also receive the Henley Executive Certificate in Leading Organisational Improvement, recognising your ability to deliver impact at scale.

Turning opportunity into measurable outcomes

Through the programme, you will strengthen your ability to lead change across your teams, department and organisation, combining strategic thinking with hands-on application.

You’ll learn how to:

• Identify and prioritise improvement opportunities
• Evaluate risk and organisational readiness
• Deliver measurable results in your area of responsibility

Learning grounded in your organisation

Working alongside peers from across the NHS, you'll apply your learning directly to challenges within your own organisation

You will:

• Work on live service improvement challenges

• Apply learning directly to your area of responsibility

• Develop capability in process improvement, project delivery and change leadership

Embedding continuous improvement and innovation

As you progress, you’ll strengthen your ability to:

• Work autonomously
• Influence stakeholders
• Support and develop others,
  
• Embed a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across your organisation.

This programme is designed to create meaningful impact for you and your organisation, strengthening your capability, confidence and career progression, while enabling you to deliver measurable results in practice.

What this means for your organisation

As you develop, your organisation benefits from stronger internal capability and a more consistent, strategic approach to improvement and change.

This includes the ability to:

• Deliver priority initiatives aligned to strategic objectives, including the adoption of AI and emerging technologies

• Identify and evaluate opportunities to improve performance, quality and efficiency

• Apply structured improvement, project and change approaches to achieve measurable results

• Strengthen cross-functional collaboration and drive change across complex environments

• Embed a culture of continuous improvement and innovation

• Build internal expertise, reducing reliance on external support

Learning is embedded through real workplace activity, enabling your organisation to deliver immediate value while building lasting capability.

Imperial's entry requirements

This programme is for those from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background who may be a nurse, midwife, AHP, healthcare scientist, paramedicine professional or registered pharmacy professional currently in Band 8a, 8b, 8c or 8d.

Henley's entry requirements

Applicants should have a minimum of 2 years of experience in a role managing teams and services that encourage continuous improvement and transformation.

Henley's Apprenticeship Engagement Team will be on hand to guide individuals and their line managers through the application process.

Key dates

• Nominations deadline - 25 September 2026
• Programme start date - 3 November 2026

Go Further is designed as one integrated programme, delivered in two connected phases that build your capability from identifying where AI can create value through to delivering measurable improvement in your organisation.

You begin with a focused phase designed to help you identify where AI can add value, assess organisational readiness and build support for adoption.

Delivery:

• 6 weeks

• Fully online

• Weekly workshops and action learning sets

In week 6, learners will need to pass a skills test to demonstrate that they have acquired the knowledge and skills set out in the apprenticeship unit. They will write a report applying their learning to the AI challenge in their organisation. Employers will need to validate to confirm the learner has been successful.

Find out more in the module summaries.

You then progress to the Improvement Specialist Apprenticeship, applying structured improvement approaches to deliver sustainable change within your organisation.

Delivery:

• Approximately 12 months

• 8-week modules combining workplace application and face-to-face learning (University of Reading, London Road Campus)

• End-Point Assessment (typically up to 3 months)

Find out more in the module summaries.

Over the five weeks of learning, participants will explore:

Develop the strategic leadership capabilities needed to position AI as a driver of organisational performance. Learners will explore how to align AI ambitions with organisational goals, establish effective governance frameworks and create policies that support responsible adoption at scale.

Identify where AI can create the greatest impact. Learners will examine business challenges and opportunities, assess potential AI applications and build evidence-based cases for investment, balancing benefits, costs and risk.

Successful AI adoption depends on people. This module explores how to engage stakeholders, build trust, manage resistance and create the organisational commitment needed to support AI-enabled change.

Move from strategy to action. Learners will evaluate operational readiness, workforce implications, ethical considerations and implementation risks to ensure AI initiatives are practical, responsible and sustainable.

AI continues to evolve rapidly. Learners will develop approaches for scanning the horizon, evaluating emerging technologies and adapting organisational strategy to remain competitive in a changing digital landscape

Strategic improvement requires more than identifying opportunities for change—it demands the ability to align improvement activity with organisational priorities and long-term objectives.

Learners explore how strategy is developed, implemented, and aligned across business functions and the wider organisation. Through the study of strategic planning, management, and decision-making approaches, they build the skills needed to assess organisational performance, understand external influences, and identify opportunities for sustainable improvement and growth.

Particular emphasis is placed on stakeholder engagement, digital transformation, emerging ways of working, and the role of equality, diversity and inclusion in shaping organisational strategy. This enables learners to contribute to the development and deployment of improvement strategies, support evidence-based decision-making, and help deliver continuous improvement that creates measurable organisational value.

Driving meaningful improvement starts with understanding the right problem to solve and applying the most effective methods to address it.

Learners explore a range of proven problem-solving and continuous improvement approaches, developing the ability to define problems clearly, identify root causes, and evaluate opportunities for improvement. Through the application of Lean, Six Sigma, benchmarking, and operational excellence techniques, they build the skills required to support improvement activity across a range of organisational settings.

A strong customer focus sits at the heart of the module. Programme members learn how to gather, interpret, and apply customer insight to shape improvement priorities, strengthen feedback loops, and ensure that improvement activity delivers value to both customers and the organisation.

The module also develops the capability to select, apply, and evaluate improvement methods in support of business objectives. By connecting improvement activity to organisational strategy, learners gain the confidence to support business transformation, drive operational performance, and identify opportunities for ongoing improvement.

Making effective improvement decisions requires confidence in using data to understand performance, test assumptions, and identify the actions that will create the greatest impact.

Learners develop the analytical skills needed to collect, interpret, and evaluate data to support evidence-based decision-making. Through the application of graphical analysis, statistical methods, process control techniques, and data-driven problem solving, they gain the capability to turn complex data into meaningful organisational insight.

The module also explores experimentation and optimisation, enabling programme members to design and evaluate tests, assess potential solutions, and identify opportunities to improve processes, products, and services. Using tools such as Minitab, learners build practical experience in statistical analysis, modelling, simulation, and experimental design to support improvement initiatives.

By combining analytical rigour with strategic thinking, the module equips learners to assess organisational approaches to data analysis and experimentation, guide others in the use of data-driven techniques, and make recommendations that support sustainable organisational improvement and performance.

Successful improvement depends on more than processes and methodologies—it relies on people who can lead, influence, and develop others to achieve shared goals.

Learners explore contemporary leadership approaches and team dynamics, developing the skills required to build high-performing teams and support organisational improvement. Topics include team formation, emotional intelligence, coaching, mentoring, conflict resolution, and approaches to addressing under-performance, equipping learners to create environments where individuals and teams can thrive.

The module also examines modern leadership challenges, including leading through change, working across generations, and developing the capabilities of others. Learners gain practical experience in facilitating workshops, supporting behavioural change, and selecting appropriate development interventions to strengthen organisational capability.

By combining leadership theory with practical application, programme members develop the confidence to lead improvement activities, coach colleagues and stakeholders, resolve team challenges, and build the skills and behaviours needed to sustain organisational improvement over the long term.

Sustainable improvement depends on understanding how work flows through an organisation and how performance can be measured, monitored, and improved over time.

Learners develop the ability to apply process thinking, measurement systems analysis, and process capability techniques to improve organisational performance. Through the exploration of process management approaches, performance metrics, and business measurement frameworks, they gain the skills needed to identify improvement opportunities, maintain process control, and support the successful deployment of improvement strategies.

The module also examines how organisations measure, evaluate, and communicate the value of improvement activity. Learners build practical capability in process mapping, business benefit realisation, cost-benefit analysis, and performance reporting, helping them demonstrate the impact of improvement programmes and support informed decision-making.

Alongside technical expertise, programme members strengthen their ability to communicate findings, provide constructive feedback, and build organisational capability in measurement and analysis. This equips employers with professionals who can improve operational performance, quantify business value, and support continuous improvement through robust process and performance management.

Delivering successful transformation requires more than a good idea—it depends on effective project delivery, strong governance, and the ability to lead people through change.

Learners explore the principles of project and change management, developing the capability to plan, scope, manage, and monitor improvement initiatives that support organisational goals. Through the study of project selection, governance, risk management, and structured project reviews, they gain the knowledge required to deliver improvement programmes that create measurable business value.

The module also examines the human side of transformation, including organisational culture, resistance to change, stakeholder engagement, and change management techniques. Learners build the skills needed to influence others, secure leadership support, and sustain momentum throughout the change process.

By combining project management discipline with effective change leadership, programme members develop the confidence to manage improvement portfolios, oversee complex transformation initiatives, and support long-term organisational success through sustainable change.