In conversations with Maria Lingam

28 Mar 2024

This month, we had the pleasure of exploring Maria Lingam’s perspective as the Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney Local Health District. Our conversation delved into the nuances of her journey and the terrain facing emerging leaders in healthcare. Maria’s insights provide invaluable guidance for aspiring leaders from diverse backgrounds. Join us as we draw inspiration from Maria’s journey toward fostering gender equality within the healthcare industry.

With your extensive experience in the public health system, especially in senior executive leadership positions, how do you perceive the landscape for emerging leaders in the healthcare sector?

In my varying leadership roles in the healthcare sector for over 20 years, the changing landscape of health has influenced a gradual transition towards transformational leadership to adapt to an ever-evolving system that is embracing inclusivity, diversity and complexity amongst our patients and staff members. This consideration has been impactful to how current senior leaders and the next generation of leaders have navigated the contemporary challenges within healthcare whilst ensuring the ongoing commitment towards our core values. Equity, development of sustainable solutions, and the promotion of opportunities for lateral, innovative and visionary thinking amongst our staff should be the essence and the primary focus for all senior leaders to ensure that the delivery of continuous best practices and subsequently optimal services are impacting the patient outcome at all levels.

Within healthcare, there remains numerous opportunities for career development and growth, with this reinforced by the calibre of mentors with extensive leadership and healthcare experience. This sharing of knowledge and insight will be invaluable to our emerging leaders as this will provide a requisite foundational basis to empower them to confidently navigate the dynamic challenges within an ageing population in Australia.

What challenges and opportunities do you envision for individuals aspiring to lead in areas like nursing and midwifery, particularly in the context of evolving healthcare demands and advancements?

For our future nursing and midwifery leaders, there will be an array of complexities due to the increasing burden of chronic disease, the demand for continuous high level healthcare services and the rising expectations of the community. To ensure that the vulnerable in our communities are provided with best person-centred care, as an executive leader for nurses and midwives, I continue to empower and nurture our clinical workforce to have a collective mindset of collaboration, compassion and empathy which evolves with the advancements in digital technology, changing healthcare policy directives, and new clinical research and healthcare innovations.

The upcoming years for our aspiring nursing and midwifery leaders will be an exciting time as the rapid developments in state-of-the-art technology and incorporation of digital systems will promote creative ways of thinking and working across multidisciplinary teams. With the integration of technology and increased use of data analytics, this will support our new leaders during their leadership journey and moments of difficult decision making, ultimately leading to the development of more efficient, effective and sustainable frameworks and models of care to guarantee the ongoing provision of high-quality healthcare.

As we celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, reflecting on the theme of a gender-equal world, how do you perceive the role of women in the healthcare and human services industry?

During my years of working within the healthcare sector, I have witnessed the steady increase of women in senior management and executive leadership positions, with this being a testament to the invaluable contributions of women in this essential service.  

As the Executive Director, Nursing & Midwifery at Western Sydney Local Health District, I am extremely proud to be working with an Executive Leadership team where the majority are women with extensive skills and experience within their portfolio. Each person is extremely supportive of gender equality, the investment of creating career development opportunities for our future women leaders and the promoting of the importance of empowering the women in our district to feel valued, have the confidence in sharing their perspective and to have a voice within their respective teams.

The majority of the nursing and midwifery workforce is comprised of women, and the empathy, compassion, dedication and resilience which our female staff demonstrates on a daily basis as part of their role is truly inspiring. It never ceases to amaze me how these women are able to tackle an imminent problem and create innovative solutions in a collaborative manner with others.

What actions do you believe can contribute to fostering a more inclusive and gender-equal healthcare environment, aligning with the goal of #InspireInclusion?

Western Sydney Local Health District is a melting pot of diverse and culturally colourful communities and it is imperative that we continue to recognise the differences in their identities, perspectives and experiences, including the current and potential barriers to creating a strong workforce culture of inclusion and equity. The ongoing advocacy of cultural empathy and inclusion within the healthcare service assists in the nurturing of leaders who are mindful of the importance of supporting and driving systems and actions which specifically cater for the unique challenges which are faced by marginalised or minority groups.

There is a conscientious effort within health to understand the views of our patients, consumers and staff members to assist in the identification of areas of success and those which we can improve upon. To ensure that individuals are comfortable in sharing their honest views and experiences, the breaking down of barriers which disempower individuals and limit opportunities for inclusion and collaboration is essential. I strongly believe that through intentional fostering of leaders that embrace transformational change, are dedicated in encouraging a cooperative mindset amongst staff to create a stronger and more sustainable health service for future generations will be pivotal in the inspiring inclusion and change in health.  

Within nursing and midwifery, although we recognise that the majority of staff are women, there is the commitment to ensure that all our nurses and midwives, both men and women are provided with equal opportunities for professional development and career advancement. With the constant increase in demand for healthcare services, we strongly promote the concept that this clinical profession is not predominantly only for women, but also a worthwhile profession for men to contribute towards and pursue as a lifelong career.

Having held senior executive leadership positions within the public health system for over two decades, what advice would you offer to the new emerging leaders in the healthcare industry?

First and foremost, instead of identifying as a senior executive, I still to this day see myself as a registered nurse. I can honestly say that this has been one of the best decisions of my life and I am extremely proud that during my clinical career as part of “team nursing”, I was able to provide the best care for my patients during their most vulnerable moments. During executive rounding at hospitals and services, I still become excited when my fellow nursing and midwifery colleagues share their enthusiasm and love for their profession through the implementation of innovative strategies which have led to immense positive health outcomes for the community.

My sincere advice for any future health leaders is to understand your reason ‘why’ for choosing to pe part of the healthcare system and that your vision aligns with the ethos and priorities of your service and senior leaders. Once you find this alignment, the ease in excelling, being inspired and empowered will come naturally. This will open you up to working to the highest level of your abilities and in turn expose you to new opportunities.

Most of all, have a strong passion and commitment towards creating a positive work culture, where each and every person is treated with kindness, respect, and that they understand they are valued for their contributions and dedication in achieving a common goal, which in health is that patients are able to receive the best care and health outcomes.

Also when an opportunity presents itself, have the courage to say yes! You never know where it will take you.