Requirements

Health services manager or director - requirements

As a health service manager or director, sometimes called a hospital manager or chief executive, you’ll run a healthcare facility, influencing its strategic and day-to-day activities. Read on to find out more about what it’s like to work in this role, where you could find work and how you might study or work towards getting a role in the area.

Know what you'll need to land a job below.

What qualifications do you need to be a health services manager or director?

It’s possible to start your career in this field from a range of different academic backgrounds or professional experiences. You might consider relevant courses such as:

You’ll be able to apply to a place on the NHS graduate management training programme with a 2:2 grade at undergraduate level, across various subjects. Once on the graduate scheme you can select one of six specialist areas to focus on, including general management to finance, health analytics and human resources.

Please note this is a beta version. We'll continue to improve our suggestions here so that we show you the most relevant subjects.

Do you need a postgraduate qualification to be a health services manager or director?

You can boost your employability and increase the chances of successfully getting on to the NHS graduate management programme with a postgraduate qualification.

There are a number of relevant master’s courses you could consider, such as:

Advanced clinical practice
Health and social care
Community health care
Advanced professional practice
Healthcare leadership
Global maternal health
Mental health studies

What skills do you need to be a health services manager or director?

In this role we recommend cultivating leadership, organisational and interpersonal communication skills as a priority.

Hard skills usually include:

Primary and secondary care
Finance and accounting
Business management
Contracting and procurement
Operations management

Soft skills include:

Communication
Motivation
Enthusiasm
Leadership
Detail focused
Managing people and processes
Planning skills

Do you need work experience to be a health services manager or director?

Work experience isn’t needed to apply to enter the NHS graduate management programme, but it’ll boost your chances of successfully getting a place as competition is strong. Previous work experience in healthcare or management settings is especially valued and will also allow you to get a clearer idea of whether you’d like to specialise in a certain area of healthcare management.