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Biomedical subjects

D Towell

Publications and source records attributed to D Towell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Staff morale in the merger of mental health and social care organizations in England.

Following the closure of the last Victorian asylum in Somerset, the health authority and county council undertook a review of mental health services. A major outcome of this review was the creation of an integrated mental health and social care provider. The current paper explores the impact of this integration on the morale of staff members involved, using a conceptual model derived from the literature on organizational behaviour. During the year immediately following integration, the average ratings on all measures of role clarity and job satisfaction reduced. For staff members involved in the integration, by far the largest group of whom were mental health nurses, job satisfaction was related to team role clarity, team identification, emotional exhaustion and gender. These effects of the integration on staff morale are discussed in light of the wider research into the determinants of job satisfaction and the conditions for success in merging organizations. The study has significant implications for managerial and professional leadership during organizational change.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2001

The meanings of 'culture' in health and social care: a case study of the combined Trust in Somerset.

On the 1st of April 1999 Somerset Health Authority and Somerset County Council established a Joint Commissioning Board (JCB) to commission mental health services. Simultaneously, the Somerset Partnerships Health and Social Care NHS Trust was set-up as a combined health and social care services provider; for the first time in England, the majority of social services mental health staff transferred their employment to this Trust. The JCB commissioned an evaluation of the impact of these innovations on users and carers, staff and senior officers and members in the organisations concerned. In the course of the research, one concept frequently recurred as a source of both optimism and concern: 'culture'. However, the meanings attributed to this term varied significantly between stakeholders. After summarising the methodology and the results to date of the evaluation, this paper briefly reviews the conceptions of culture in the literature on organisations, and introduces a taxonomy for discussing culture. That taxonomy is then deployed to explore the ways in which the notion of 'culture' is being applied to and within the combined Trust in Somerset, and the implications of those applications for local practice and national policy around partnership.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1992

Strange route.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Communism↗
PubMed1991

Over the rainbow.

What is required to renew purposeful and socially relevant leadership in Britain? In the fifth and final article of his 'Travelling Light' series, David Towell draws on the experience gained during his travels to consider how we can all contribute

Leadership↗
PubMed1982

Developing effective management for the general nursing service.

Directors of nursing services and their colleagues in the new units created by NHS restructuring face major challenges in developing effective management for the general nursing service. Emerging ideas within the profession on the organization of nursing work, severe pressures arising from financial constraints at a time of growing health care needs, and restructuring itself each demand a carefully planned response. Beginning from the basic management cycle involved in implementing the nursing process, this paper offers a redefinition of the main functions of nursing management as a whole in meeting these challenges and provides a check-list for reviewing existing management practice. The use of this check-list is then illustrated by a case study in one health district. In this example, managers sought external assistance in planning a programme of action to strengthen nursing leadership. Similar efforts elsewhere are likely to rely mainly on a range of self-help methods. This paper is intended to provide a tool for designing and implementing these local strategies of management development.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1981

Towards professional autonomy: a commentary on "Expectations and disappointments' in development of the Royal College of Nursing.

The Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom has been engaged over recent years in a unique process of organizational change. Since 1973 sustained efforts have been made to mobilise widespread membership participation in shaping a new college structure which enables the Rcn to function effectively in representing the profession and in developing expertise on all aspects of nursing. A critical element has been creation of a network of "Rcn Centres' to provide a professional forum in each locality. A recent study by Bridget Ramsay has followed up this process. Its title, Expectations and Disappointments, reflects the mixed views of those involved on the progress which has been made. This article provides a commentary on Ramsay's analysis against the background of the complex situation of the Rcn in the early 1970s and the considerations which led the College to adopt an innovative approach to change. Particular attention is given to the influences which have made the growth of an active and integrated "Rcn at local level' quite problematic. It is suggested that the course Rcn development has taken in part reflects important elements in the nursing culture which members learn from their work in hospitals. Accordingly the Rcn experience has wider implications for the profession, not least for contemporary efforts, to achieve the greater professional autonomy necessary for nurses to implement more individualized patient care.

Humans↗