The healthcare sector is undergoing a seismic transformation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) projects that by 2030, 40 million new healthcare sector jobs will be created, effectively doubling the current global health workforce (Seamus Heaney 2017; BMJ, 2016). Yet even as the sector grows, the people at the core are increasingly struggling. A recent study shows that 39% of healthcare workers report burnout, with many falling ill themselves or leaving their profession altogether (Nagarajan, Ramachadran, Dilipkumar & Kaur, 2024).
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t create these pressures, but it dramatically intensified them. Staff are navigating soaring demand, technological disruption, complex bureaucracy and stringent financial constraints. The emotional weight of this is immense. There is a growing concern, highlighted by high-profile scandals and reports, that modern healthcare is losing its moral centre. Many professionals feel unable to provide the safe, timely, compassionate care that originally drew them to the field (Greater Good Berkeley, 2024; C de Zulueta, 2015).
The barriers to compassionate care are systemic as well as emotional. A PubMed Central article identified four major barriers:
56% of healthcare providers say administrative burdens, cost-cutting and regulation prevent them from prioritising compassion. This was tragically evident in the Mid-Staffordshire scandal, where toxic leadership and misplaced targets fatally undermined basic patient care. But as Trzeciak et al. (2019) stress, efficiency and compassion are not mutually exclusive. In fact, compassion is one of the most powerful interventions in healthcare. It improves outcomes, lowers costs, reduces burnout, and builds resilience (The Kings Fund, 2022; C de Zulueta, 2015).
Healthcare professionals often operate in a defensive cycle due to the constant threats and pressures of the role - a dynamic explored in Breakthrough’s Red Train Blue Train Tool©. C de Zulutea (2015) explains this using a model of three emotional regulation systems:
In demanding environments, the soothing system is often underdeveloped, leading to chronic stress and emotional exhaustion. To restore balance, leaders must nurture an environment of psychological safety and belonging in the workplace.
This isn’t just a workplace management issue - it’s a leadership challenge. The question facing global healthcare systems is this: How can we create the right conditions for both compassionate care and compassionate workplaces? (Greater Good Berkeley, 2024).
Compassionate leadership is essential to answering that challenge. Unlike empathy, which involves feeling what others feel, compassion includes the motivation to act in response to another person’s suffering. It’s a balance of emotional presence and resilience - all vital qualities in high-pressure environments (Merriam Webster; C de Zulueta, 2015).
Leaders who model compassion create an environment where staff feel heard, valued and supported - all key drivers of performance, retention and innovation. However, rigid leadership styles marked by fear and coercion stifle collaboration, disempower people and erode morale (West, 2021; The Kings Fund, 2022).
In a compassionate healthcare system, both patients and professionals feel safe, seen and supported. Patients receive timely, competent and human-centred care that respects their dignity. Staff are given space to reflect, recharge and reconnect. They are trusted to act in ways that relieve suffering without fear of reprimand or unnecessary bureaucratic interference. Crucially, compassionate leaders don’t need all the answers - they need the courage to foster cultures where people collaborate, adapt and respond to challenges together (C de Zulueta, 2015).
Developing compassionate leadership is essential for addressing deeper systemic issues like discrimination, inequity, and exclusion. Compassionate leaders are better positioned to hold honest conversations, listen deeply, and take meaningful action to create more inclusive and psychologically safe environments.
Meeting core psychological needs such as autonomy, belonging and contribution is vital for improving and sustaining staff wellbeing and performance. Research published in the BMJ Open demonstrates that when these needs are met, healthcare professionals experience higher levels of motivation, lower risk of burnout, and better patient outcomes (The Kings Fund, 2022). This is reinforced by findings from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI, 2025), which link staff engagement directly with improved care quality, safety, and organisational efficiency.
To prevent burnout and foster resilience, compassionate leadership must be embedded throughout all levels of healthcare culture. The King's Fund (2022) identifies four foundational behaviours of compassionate leadership:
These behaviours, especially attentive listening, are not soft skills - they are core competencies for leaders managing high-stakes, emotionally complex teams. Listening enables leaders to diagnose challenges of frustration, build interpersonal trust and create environments where innovation and care quality can thrive.
Importantly, these behaviours must be modelled from the top. Shifting from traditional, hierarchical “command-and-control” styles to shared, distributive and adaptive leadership is essential. As de Zulueta (2015) argues in Compassion in Healthcare, this transformation reflects a more human-centred model, where leadership is a relational act, not a positional power.
A Harvard Business Review article (Hougaard, Carter & Afton, 2022) further illustrates this. They found that leaders who lead with compassion and wisdom, balancing empathy with clarity and decisiveness, create more resilient, agile organisations, especially during times of crisis and change.
Healthcare leaders are navigating one of the most complex, emotionally charged work environments in the world. But this is also an opportunity. By choosing compassionate leadership, leaders can foster cultures where both staff and patients thrive; environments where care is not only competent but truly human. This will require courage, consistency and a shift in mindset. But for the future of healthcare, and the wellbeing of those who provide it, it’s a shift worth making.
If you have experienced this before in your organisation, or especially if you’re experiencing it now, please get in touch at contact@breakthroughglobal.com or here, and we can partner with you for a successful transformation journey.