HG Welcomes Dr Alex Cockram as Medical Learning Set Facilitator
30 May 2025
We are delighted to welcome Dr Alex Cockram as the newest facilitator for HG’s pivotal new leadership development offering, Medical Leaders Learning Sets. Alex is an experienced healthcare professional with a significant history in clinical practice in both public and private settings most notably as the Chief Executive for Western Health (Victoria), Executive Director, North Western Melbourne Health (Victoria), Executive Director, Mental Health Program, Southern Health (Victoria) and Area Clinical Director and Acting Director, Illawarra Mental Health Services(New South Wales).
Alex’s great interest in people’s lives, motivations and their resilience inspired her into psychiatry. Through a commitment to service system redesign, improvement and a focus on strong clinical governance, workforce development and high-quality care she has a belief that to develop better service systems requires integration of the full continuum of health, welfare and education.
Alex shared his thoughts about leadership for this month’s edition. Here is what she told us:
In conversation with Dr. Alex Cockram
- Looking back, what’s a defining moment that shaped your approach to leadership in healthcare?
I’ve been lucky to have a number of mentors which have influenced my approach to leadership. They have assisted in providing great advice, guiding me when I’m facing challenges and encouraging me to develop an authentic approach that sits comfortably with my values and personal style. We all lead differently and that is a good thing.
- In your view, what’s the most important capability senior clinical leaders need to develop for the future?
Developing leadership skills in how to create collaborative directions and solutions to the challenges faced in health. This might include developing better outcomes for patients in clinical settings to influencing system change. The skills are similar and require using the right information, creating shared understanding of the way forward, developing clear directions and measuring your outcomes.
To read more about Alex’s experience, download her bio here.
