Janet M Scott | PubMed Health

PubMed2004

NHS workforce issues: implications for future practice.

This analysis of the literature examines the implications of the changes in the National Health Service workforce and the ramifications for multi-professional working practices, patient care and delivery of health services. Changes in medical working practices and education, together with the increasing numbers of doctors, have resulted in proposals for nurses to extend their role and the removal of professional restrictions. Whilst the numbers of nurses in the workforce have marginally increased, the qualified nurse ratio has declined, as has the balance between medical and registered nurses. Few attempts have been made to evaluate these changes in relation to the quality of service and patient outcomes. The changing roles of nurses and their value need to be quantified. Demographic trends, together with international shortages and the lack of educational capacity have also been understated Adequate and accurate workforce information should be regularly collated and analysed.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The organizational implications of the role NHS Service Managers played in the quality process in the mid-1990s.

AIM: It is the intention of this paper to highlight the problems associated with the organizational implications of the role NHS Service Managers (SMs) played in the quality process of the mid-1990s. BACKGROUND: To provide quality care all staff must be committed and involved, in this study it appeared that few SMs played a part in the process. METHODS: Semistructured taped interviews were conducted with 33 SMs and three Chief Executives in seven Trusts. As part of a study they were asked the role SMs played in quality in their clinical directorate. The data was transcribed and analysed in a content-analysis approach. FINDINGS: Quality of care was not the SMs' primary objective. The role played by SMs was dependent on their background, experience and the organization in which they worked. Most Trusts' quality-control strategy was not standardized, co-ordinated or integrated, nor was the audit process regulated. For most, quality was seen as synonymous with professions, managers from a non-professional background found the monitoring of the quality of performance inherently difficult. Only one Trust (the most successful) appeared to undertake organizational learning, influenced by the philosophy of the Chief Executive.

Administrative Personnel↗