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Purpose – Improving Global Health is a one year leadership scheme which places trainee doctors and more experienced nurses, midwives and AHPs in a developing country (Cambodia or Tanzania) to develop leadership and quality improvement skills while contributing to Millennium goals in the developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to report on an independent evaluation of the programme, with the purpose of highlighting lessons learned to inform other leadership development initiatives, and in particular to highlight the vital importance of a receptive NHS environment if maximum value is to be gained from investment in clinical leadership.Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation methodology comprised literature review; review of documentation, including on line questionnaires to Fellows; interviews with stakeholders and attendance at key scheme events in July‐September 2011. Fellows who had completed an overseas placement in either Cambodia or Tanzania during 2009‐2010 were interviewed using a se...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe a novel approach to leadership development for UK healthcare workers, while contributing to health service improvement in a developing country.Design/methodology/approachA quality improvement faculty are used to teach and mentor National Health Service (NHS) International Development Clinical Fellows in quality improvement (QI) methods. Using accepted QI methods, sensitive and practical improvement projects are selected in partnership with local people in Cambodia in order to start achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goals related to child and maternal health. Simultaneously, NHS International Fellows gain an unparalleled opportunity to develop their leadership skills, which should benefit the NHS on their return to the UK.FindingsHealthcare quality improvement methods, developed in First World countries, are transferable to the developing world and also function as a vehicle for developing leadership skills in experienced healthcare workers.Practical implicationsThis leadership development programme fits with the stated aims of the Global Health Partnerships report, which encourages the NHS to play a global role in healthcare development in the developing world. Other First World healthcare systems could adopt this leadership development method to both improve the leadership capability of their own staff while also making a significant contribution to less well‐developed healthcare systems.Originality/valueThe combination of leadership development through quality improvement is novel – promising to benefit both providers and recipients.