Promoting healthcare improvement

Cardiff Business School’s Dr Aoife McDermott (Management, Employment and Organisation) addressed a seminar of key healthcare stakeholders in Scotland recently (31 May 2017) on processes and cultural changes to deliver healthcare improvement.

The ‘Making Improvement Stick: Processes, People and Politics' seminar was co-organised by the Cardiff Health Organisation and Policy Studies Group, the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) based at the University of Aberdeen, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

The half-day seminar drew on recent research conducted in four hospitals across Scotland and Ireland by Dr McDermott and colleagues from HSRU, Professor Lorna McKee and Dr David Steel. The focus was on delivering and sustaining improvement in healthcare.

It was attended by an audience of policy and healthcare professionals, including representatives of the Scottish Government, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Boards, Scotland Medical colleges, and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

Nottingham University Business School’s Professor Justin Waring presented on the ‘science and art’ behind healthcare improvement, focusing on the political intelligence of the sector’s leaders. In her presentation, Dr McDermott discussed approaches to enhancing quality and safety in hospitals, considering how to start, sustain and spread improvement.

Following the event, Dr McDermott said: “The healthcare sector is always a topic high on the political and social agenda, and this was once again true during the most recent general election. Understanding how to deliver, and importantly, sustain and scale-up improvement in healthcare is vital to ensure that the system is fit for purpose and flexible enough to respond to changing health needs and management challenges’’.

“Attendees indicated that the session helped to bridge the worlds of policy, practice and research. Only by working together can we hope to address some of the problems facing the healthcare sector.”

Cardiff Business School academics have contributed significantly to healthcare research and practice improvement locally, nationally and internationally. Promoting positive change in the healthcare sector is fully in line with the School’s public value ambition.

Read more about the School’s public value strategy to deliver social and economic improvement.