Facilitating Change in Health and Social Care

Introduction

Change management practice in the health and social care is appropriate for analysing the present organisational issues and restructuring the policies and practice to drive change for achieving the future sustainable development (Reeves, Macmillan and Van Soeren, 2010). The aim of the study is to manage changes in the organisational context, where the health and social care service can develop effective ways to improve quality of the service and increase equality for the patients to access the suitable care and treatment according to their health needs and personal preferences. Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust are together responsible for managing the patients and conduct patient assessment so that the demand for the health and social care service can be fulfilled well. However, there are certain issues, for which both the councils face difficulties in conducting appropriate patient assessment as well as deliver quality care. For example, as per the demand analysis, 59% demands were failure demand and 32% referrals were found to be duplicate referrals. due to this issue, the council aims to maximise the quality of care and promote change by developing ‘single share assessment’, where the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust can develop collaborative practice of patient assessment and analyse the demand for their service so that they would be able to fulfil the expectations of the service users.

1. Understanding the factors that drive change in health and social care services

1.1 Explaining the key factors that drive change in health and social care services

There are certain factors that drive change in the health and social care context, and it is necessary for the organisational leader to identify the factors and analyse the internal condition of the heath care sector for promoting change. In this regard the major internal driving factors of the change are such as low performance, low satisfaction of the patients, lack of quality treatment and care, new missions of the authority and new leadership. These are the major factors for driving the change (Rees et al., 2004). The Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust face difficulties in meeting the quality of care and they are not satisfied with their service, as they fail to conduct appropriate patient assessment. the demand in the market for their health care service were not analysed properly and for which there are some patients, who cannot get quality care and support from the service providers. New leadership style of supportive and directive are also another drive to change, where the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust aim at developing single shared assessment system so that they can analyse the actual health needs and personal preferences of the patients. The workplace practice and internal working environment is another factor that drives change and the workplace so that the aim of the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust can be fulfilled in long run.

1.2 Assessing the challenges in managing change in the context of health and social care services

There are several challenges in managing changes at the workplace of the health and social care institution, where the leader and the healthy are management team fail to drive change (Powell et al., 2009). the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in this context aim at promoting change through developing single shared assessment technique for more collaboration and communication, so that the organisations can improve patient’s values and maximise their wellbeing in long run. The major challenges of the organisations are such as internal conflicts, lack of understanding among the team members, resistance to change, cultural conflicts and the diversity in working practice in the organisations Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, where the employees are not willing to collaborate. In this regard, the employees of the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust face difficulties in communicating with others and cope up with the different working practice in the workplace. Additionally, there are internal conflicts among the team members where the health and social care professionals such as Taunton Council Social Work and Occupational Therapists, NHS Occupational Therapists, District Nurses, GPs and day care hospitals staff are not able to collaborate with each other. In this regard, it is difficult for the leaders of Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust face challenges in promoting change in the workplace while developing he single shared assessment planning, where it is difficult for them to collaborate and share a common goal in the workplace.

2. Evaluating recent changes in health and social care services

2.1 Strategy for measuring recent changes in health and social care

It is necessary for the organisations in the context of health and social care to develop proper criteria to measure the changes in the health and social care context. There are certain factors that will be helpful for the organisations to measure the success after changed strategy have been implemented. Service efficiency is the criteria, were the organisations can analyse the changed practice (Scott et al., 2003). In this regard the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust need to measure the efficiency of the staff to attend the patients and reduce the waiting time of the service users in the institution. The efficiency of the staff members and their effectiveness to treat the patients are necessary criteria through which it is possible top evaluate the scenario after changed process in the institution. Additionally, the satisfaction rate of the patients and the quality of care are other criteria, where the organisations Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust need to measure the performance of them in treating the patients in long run. It is essential to analyse the satisfaction and expectation of the patients as well as measure the quality of care through which the patients can overcome their health issues. Hereby, quality and efficiency as well as the waiting time of the painters and satisfaction of the service users are the major criteria of measuring the success of the institutions in treating the service users (Chreim et al., 2010). There are other strategies to measure the results of the changes, such as the patient management practice, improving the wellbeing of the patients and reduction of duplication in information gathering, appropriate patient assessment, proper acknowledgement of the personal preferences and actual health needs of the patients, where the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust can improve their performance and attend the patients within proper time and with appropriate treatment and care.

2.2 Impact of recent changes on health and social care services

The major changes taken place in the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is to develop single shared patient assessment, where the agencies can reduce the issue of duplication of the patient information (Martin, Charlesworth and Henderson, 2010). This is effective for the patients to get appropriate treatment and quality care timely from the service providers including the Taunton Council Social Work and Occupational Therapists, NHS Occupational Therapists, District Nurses, GPs, where they are able to treat the patients with quality care and latest treatment. in this regard, the changed process and the strategy of developing single shared assessment practice is good for the health and social care providers in the agencies to be collaborative with each other and share the patients assessment information and data sp that they can have proper information and knowledge to treat the patients efficiently. Additionally, the changed process is good for reducing the waiting time of the patient and mismanagement of the service users where the health care professionals are efficient to manage all the patients and attend them timely with latest treatment, medication and quality car and support according to the patient assessment report.

In this regard, the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust are able to control the Date of referral to date of assessment which has been dropped from an Upper Control Limit (UCL) of up to 275 days to 22 days as well as the average waiting time for assessment fell from 68 days to 6 days, which is great result for the agencies to improve patient assessment through the single shared assessment system, in which all the staff and employees including the Taunton Council Social Work and Occupational Therapists, District Nurses, GPs and NHS Occupational Therapists are willing to collaborate and develop partnership working practice in the agencies for successful patient assessment and delivering high quality care and appropriate treatment. Additionally, after the change of developing single shared assessment technique, the date of referral to date of service UCL plunged from 823 days to 31 days and the average of 22 days which has been decreased from 171 days (Weiner, Amick and Lee, 2008).

2.3 Evaluating the overall impact of recent changes in health and social care

The changed process in the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is effective to improve the quality of care in the agencies, where the staff and the inter professionals team are trying to collaborate and communicate with each other for better performance. The overall performance of the agencies has been improved where the staffs become sufficient to collaborate and enhance communication with each other for developing single shared assessment system, in which they are able to share their understanding and important information of the patient with each other and they are willing to develop care plan for that patient with cooperation (Scragg, 2010).

2.4 Proposing appropriate service responses to recent changes in health and social care services

In order to improve the service responses in the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, it is essential for the service providers to empower the patients in the agencies, so that proper assessment can be conducted. In addition to this, it is necessary for the staff in both the agencies to improve collaboration and communication with the service users and develop safety and security of the patients, so that they are able to maximise patient’s values (Wizemann et al., 2009). Moreover, the agencies need to develop integrated care and improve primary care which in turn helps the staff to improve patient safety and deliver quality care to all the patients within proper time.

3. Understanding the principles of change management

3.1 Explaining the key principles of change management

There are key principles of change management which promote changes in the organisation, and the principles o managing change further provide a scope to the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to improve effective strategic practice to lead the changes and implement the single shared assessment practice in the workplace, so that every service providers can access the assessment and develop effective care plan by sharing their views and experience with each other (Odom et al., 2012). Considering the culture of both the agencies is necessary where the staff members need to understand the working practice and organisational polices. engaging all the people in the change and lading the organisational culture are also other principle to manage change and on the other hand, it is necessary to improve clear communication, share the organisational goal with all the employees at the agencies as well as empower the service providers in the process so that the Taunton Council Social Work and Occupational Therapists, NHS Occupational Therapists, District Nurses, GPs can collaborate and develop partnership working practice during lading the change. the principle of sharing the information at the organisational workplace, and improving engagement with all the inter professional staff are also necessary for the leader and the management team of the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to develop collaborative practice and lead the staff towards achieving future success.

3.2 Explaining the ways of planning change in health and social care

In order to develop proper planning to manage change in the health and social care context, it is necessary to have effective leadership style so that the leaders can lead the followers towards achieving future success. The leaders of Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust need to be collaborative in this case to develop single shared assessment where they can cooperate with each other and develop inter professional working practice in both the agencies. Arranging the meeting for the employees of both the agencies is necessary, where the leaders can communicate with the staff and share clear views and aim of the agencies behind the change. Proper information sharing about the change and the support resources of the organisation are the major practice through which it is possible to develop proper plan to lead the change process in the agencies. In addition to this, it is necessary for the leader to direct the tam members of both the agencies and share the organisational practice and culture so that they can understand the working process and contribute positively with more communication and cooperation. Implementing the computerised data base system and cloud computing is necessary to develop shared system of patient assessment so that staff of both the agencies can access the sites and protect the information of the patients under the Data protection Act 1998 (Mackian and Simons, 2013). Moreover, the leader needs to empower the staff and increase their interest to develop shared assessment practice through giving them monetary and non-monetary rewards ad incentives so that their performance can be enhanced and they would be able to work efficiently to maximise the organisational aim.

3.3 Assessing the monitoring process of the recent changes in health and social care services

Daily monitoring process is required in this context, so that the service providers in both the agencies Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust can be collaborate and develop shared assessment system successfully. The online portal needs to be developed through which the management team can review the information and analyse whether all the personalise information of the patients are recorded or not. The performance of the staff in utilising the data base of the patients will also be monitored through proper assessment of their performance (Le May, Andrée. 2009). Analysing the physical environment in the agencies and reviewing the performance of the staff and quality of care are also necessary to monitor the recent changes taken place in the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

Conclusion

The changed strategy in the Taunton City Council and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is effective for the organisations to improve overall impacts where the patients can access the health and social care service equally and the health care service providers and social workers can access the single shared patient assessment system to gain understanding about the patient’s actual health needs and personal preferences and develop proper care plan for the patients. It is the responsibility of the leaders of both the agencies to be collaborative and develop inter professional team so that every employees including the Taunton Council Social Work and Occupational Therapists, NHS Occupational Therapists, District Nurses, GP can cooperate and improve communication to lead the change and develop quality care to maximise the wellbeing of the patients by reducing their waiting time, increasing attending to the patients and improving efficiency of the staff to treat the service users.

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