Healthcare Sector and Change Management

This article discusses the need for modern scientific workforce management in the healthcare sector to improve patient care and treatment services in NHS, UK. It also justifies the usage of Lewin's change management model and situational leadership approach for the effective implementation of the change.

Running head: HEALTHCARE SECTOR AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPMENT OF A MODERN SCIENTIFIC WORKFORCE FOR THE
RESOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF POOR PATIENT CARE AND TREATMENT
RELATED SERVICES IN NHS, UK
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Need for the change.........................................................................................................................3
Implementation of the Change.........................................................................................................4
Justification for the usage of Lewin’s change management model.............................................5
Tools required for the implementation of the change..................................................................7
Justification of the leadership approach selected for the implementation of the change............8
Impact of the change on people...................................................................................................9
Evaluation of the change...........................................................................................................10
Contribution of the change towards the enhancement of the quality patient care.........................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
As opined by Cherry and Jacob (2016), an important factor which affects the quality of
treatment services or patient care which is being delivered to the patients by the healthcare
organizations is the way the healthcare professionals are being managed within the framework of
the same. Wang, Kung and Byrd (2018) are of the usage of adequate workforce techniques not
only reduces the work-load of the healthcare professionals but at the same time helps them to
deliver quality treatment services to the patients which is beneficial from the perspective of both
the patients and also the healthcare organizations as well. However, the major problem arises
because the majority of the healthcare organizations coming under the umbrella of NHS, UK
completely disregard the aspect of effective workforce management or for that matter still takes
the help of the traditional workforce management techniques that had failed to yield adequate or
the desired results within the highly dynamic contemporary clinical setting (Dzau et al. 2017).
Thus, it is likely that the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK through the usage of the
process of modern scientific workforce management technique would be able to reduce the work
load of the healthcare professionals and thereby improve the quality of patient care or the
treatment services offered by them.
As discussed by Shanks (2016), taking the help of this process the healthcare
organizations would be able to effectively design the work or the job roles of the healthcare
professionals, encourage them to take the help of recent advancements in the field of healthcare
sector, reduce their work load or work stress and thereby improve the quality of patient care.
This change becomes especially important because in the present times it had been seen that the
quality of patient care or for that matter the healthcare services offered by the healthcare

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professionals had deteriorated in a substantial manner despite the advancements made in the
healthcare sector and one of the most important factor which had directly contributed to this is
the ineffective workforce management techniques used by the healthcare organizations (Doğan
and Unutulmaz 2016). Lewin’s change management model can be used for the effective
implementation of change within the framework of the different healthcare organizations not
only because of the simple nature of the model but also on the score of the effectiveness of the
concerned model in the implementation of large scale changes.
Need for the change
Brownson, Colditz and Proctor (2018) are of the viewpoint that the quality of patient care
or the treatment services offered by the healthcare professionals to the patients is important not
only because it is on this entity that the reputation of the healthcare organizations greatly
depends but also on the score of the fact that it helps in saving the lives of the people. However,
as discussed by White, Dudley-Brown and Terhaar (2016), in the present times because of the
large number of health related issues faced by the individuals the workload of the healthcare
professionals related to NHS, UK had increased in an exponential manner. Furthermore, the
majority of the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK are still taking the help of the
traditional workforce management techniques wherein it is seen that the healthcare professionals
are often overburdened with work and also have to face a high amount of work stress (Maslach
and Leiter 2016). This high work load or stress faced by the healthcare professionals adversely
affects the quality of the treatment services or patient care which is being offered to the patients
(Brownson et al. 2017). In addition to these, it is seen that because of the ineffective workforce
management techniques used by the healthcare organizations many of the patients are left
unattended or for that matter delayed treatment is being offered to them (Berwick 2016). In the

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light of these aspects, it can be said that changing the workplace management technique and
making it more scientific or modern is likely to help the healthcare professionals and also the
organizations in an effective manner.
The implementation of the change under discussion at the local level would be in
synchronicity with the mandate of the national government regarding the quality of patient care
or treatment services that the healthcare professionals and the organizations are required to offer
to patients. For example, the effective usage of the process of modern scientific workforce
management would help the healthcare professionals and the healthcare organizations related to
NHS, UK to improve the quality of care or treatment which is being offered by them at the local
or the national level while complying with the quality stipulations or the regulations of the
national government (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne 2018). More importantly, the usage of this
measure is likely to make the work performed by the healthcare professionals much more
systematic focus effectively on their expertise domain and others which in turn would yield
positive results for both the patients and also the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK as
well (Pozgar 2018).
Implementation of the Change
Cameron and Green (2015) are of the viewpoint that the success or the failure of the
changes which the healthcare organizations implement within the framework of their workplace
greatly depends on the kind of change management that they are using for the implementation of
the same. As discussed by Bradley (2016), the usage of different change management models
facilitates the effective implementation of the different changes by making the entire process
more systematic, segregating the different stages, helping the healthcare organizations to

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overcome resistance from the employees, integration of the implemented changes within the
organizational or the workplace culture and others. More importantly, the healthcare
organizations have the opportunity to offer the required training, coaching, mentoring and other
similar services to the healthcare professionals so as to help them to take the maximum
advantage of the changes which are being implemented (Donnelly and Kirk 2015). In the light of
these aspects, it can be said that it had become imperative for the healthcare organizations to take
the help of different change management models for the adequate implementation of the required
changes within the framework of their workplace.
As discussed by Hayes (2018), the benefits offered by the process of change management
and also the usage of adequate change management models for the implementation of different
kinds of changes becomes apparent from the fact that over the years a large number of change
management models have gained prominence. Some of the most important ones in this regard
are Lewin’s change management model, ADKAR, “Kotter's 8 step Model of Change” and others
(Bradley 2016). However, at the same time it needs to be said that the usage of the different
change management models depends on the kind or the nature of which is being implemented by
the healthcare organizations. Thus, it becomes important for the healthcare organizations to
select the change management models on the basis of the kind or the nature of the changes which
they are trying to implement. In the particular context of the change under discussion here,
Lewin’s change management model, consisting of the three stages, namely, unfreeze, change and
refreeze had been selected for the implementation of the concerned change.
Justification for the usage of Lewin’s change management model
Cameron and Green (2015) are of the viewpoint that Lewin’s change management model
is one of the most important tools which is being used by the different healthcare organizations

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for the implementation of both small and large-scale changes. As discussed by Donnelly and
Kirk (2015), the effective usage of this particular change management model requires the
healthcare organizations to take into account its three important stages, namely, unfreeze, change
and refreeze. In the particular context of the implementation of the modern scientific workforce
management system, it needs to be said that the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK in
the first step would have to convey the required information to the healthcare professionals and
the other key stakeholders associated with them. Along with this, the healthcare organizations
would also have to clearly state the reasons for the implementations of the change and also the
likely benefits that the healthcare professionals would be able to derive through the active usage
of the process of modern scientific workforce management. For example, the usage of this
process is likely to effectively manage the workload or the work stress faced by the healthcare
professionals and thereby likely to help them to improve the quality of the patient care or the
treatment services which are being offered to the patients.
In the second step, the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK would have to
actually undertake the process of the implementation of the change under discussion here. In this
relation, it needs to be said that the healthcare organizations and also the management team of
the same would have to offer the required training, mentoring, coaching and others to the
healthcare professionals (Tsai et al. 2015). This is not only likely to help them to overcome the
resistance to the concerned change offered by the healthcare professionals and the other key
stakeholders but also likely to help the healthcare professionals to derive the maximum benefits
from the usage of the same (McCormack and McCance 2016). Lastly, in the final stage, the
healthcare organizations would have to integrate the modern scientific workforce management
system that they have implemented within the framework of their workplace within the

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organizational or the workplace culture followed by them and also to make it a permanent part of
the same. Furthermore, the healthcare organizations even have the opportunity to take the help of
the process of pilot test through which they have the opportunity to implement the concerned
change for a short period of time for trial and thereby integrate the results that they have derived
through the trial within the actual change plan for its improvement (Bradley 2016). It is in the
light of these systematic as well as simple steps that the healthcare organizations would have to
follow for the effective implementation of the modern scientific workforce management system
that Lewin’s change management model had been selected for the implementation of the same
within the framework of the different healthcare organizations.
Tools required for the implementation of the change
The healthcare organizations along with the usage of adequate change management
models would also have to take the different kinds of tools for the implementation of the change
under discussion here. Some of the most important tools in this regard are fishbone, 5W’s, Plan-
Do-Study-Act Tool and others (Hayes 2018). In this relation, it needs to be said that the tool of
“5W’s of change” would help the healthcare organizations to understand “who, what, where,
when and why” the implementation of the change would be undertaken (Donnelly and Kirk
2015). On the other hand, the Do-Study-Act Tool is an important one which is being used within
the framework of the healthcare sector for the feasibility analysis of the different kinds of
changes that the healthcare organizations are required to implement for the improvement of the
quality of care or the treatment services which are being offered to the patients (Greenhalgh et al.
2016). These tools are going to be important ones for the healthcare organizations for the
effective implementation of the modern scientific workforce management system within the
framework of their workplace.

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Justification of the leadership approach selected for the implementation of the change
Wager, Lee and Glaser (2017) are of the viewpoint that the leadership approach or the
style which is being used by the organizations during the process of change management for the
implementation of the desired changes greatly affects the success or the failure of the concerned
changes within the organization. However, as discussed by Kilbourne et al. (2018), the major
problem arises because majority of the organizations completely relegate the aspect of leadership
approach to the background and merely focus on the diverse stages of the change management
model that they are using for the implementation of the changes. In this relation, the leaders
perform different kinds of job roles during the process of change management like overcoming
the resistance offered by the employees or the healthcare professionals through training,
mentoring, coaching and other, monitoring the entire process of change management, evaluation
of the changes, setting milestones and others (Graban 2018). Thus, it becomes important for the
organizations to take the help of adequate leadership approaches or styles for the effective
implementation of the different kinds of changes. The healthcare organizations have the
opportunity to take the help of the situational leadership approach for the successful
implementation of the different kinds of changes. According to Johnson and Sollecito (2018),
one of the most important aspects of the situational leadership approach is the fact that one
leadership approach cannot helps the leaders in all the situations that they encounter and thus it
becomes important for them to modify the leadership style that they use as per the merit or the
importance of the different situations that they encounter.
As discussed by Pozgar (2018), the adequate usage of situational leadership approach
becomes especially important during the process of change management since it helps the
leaders to effectively resolve the different problems or issues or situations that they face during

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the same. In this relation, it can be said that the usage of this leadership would enable the leaders
or the healthcare organizations to deal with the different issues or the situations which would
arise during the implementation of the changes as per the merits or the importance of the same
and hereby facilitate the effective implementation of the changes (Berwick 2016). It is on the
score of these aspects that the situational leadership approach had been suggested for the
healthcare organizations for the implementation of the modern scientific workforce management
system.
Impact of the change on people
The effective implementation of the change under discussion here is likely to benefit not
only the patients in terms of the patient care that they get but also the healthcare professionals as
well. For example, the systematic approach to workforce management would help in the
adequate or equal distribution of work among all the healthcare professionals associated with a
particular healthcare organization (Wang, Kung and Byrd 2018). This in turn is likely to reduce
the workload or the work stress faced by the healthcare professionals in an effective manner by
initiating a change in the entire process of operations process followed by the healthcare
organizations related to NHS, UK. In this relation, it needs to be said that the care or the
treatment services which are being offered to the patients is the result of the conglomerate work
performed by the professionals related to the different departments of the healthcare
organizations (White, Dudley-Brown and Terhaar 2016). Thus, it is likely that the systematic
workforce management system would reduce the workload of not only the healthcare
professionals but also of the employees of the same who facilitate the work of the healthcare
professionals. This in turn would improve the quality of the healthcare services or the patient

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care which is being offered by the healthcare professionals or the healthcare organizations to the
patients in an effective manner.
Evaluation of the change
The evaluation of the change under discussion here would be mainly done on the basis of
two criteria, namely, the reduction in the workload or the work stress faced by the healthcare
professionals and the improvement in the quality of the patient care or the treatment services
which are being offered by the healthcare organizations to the patients. For the evaluation of the
first criteria feedback would be collected from the healthcare professionals regarding whether
any change in the workload or the work stress faced by them had taken place or not. On the other
hand, for the evaluation of the second criteria feedback would be collected from the patients
regarding whether the quality of the treatment services or the care which is being offered by the
healthcare professionals or the healthcare organization itself had improved or not.
Contribution of the change towards the enhancement of the quality patient care
As discussed, the primary objective for the implementation of the scientific workforce
management system is to effectively reduce the workload of the healthcare professionals and
thereby to improve the quality of care or treatment services which are being offered to the
patients. This is important since recent researchers have found that high workload or burnout is
one of the most important reasons for the below-par quality of the patient care or treatment
services which are being offered by the healthcare professionals to the patients (Ginter, Duncan
and Swayne 2018). Thus, it is likely that the healthcare organizations related to NHS, UK would
be able to reduce the burnout or the high workload of the healthcare professionals and thereby
directly contribute towards the improvement of the quality of the patient care or the treatment

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services which would be offered to the patients. However, at the same time it needs to be said
that the healthcare organizations would have to formulate means of effectively communication
for the purpose of rolling out the change proposal or for that matter the usage of the entire
proposal itself. This can be done effectively through the adequate usage of digital media tools
like emails, video calls and others for the purpose of conveying the required information to the
key people.
Conclusion
To conclude, the effective usage of the process of change management helps the
healthcare organizations to implement the kind of changes which are likely to improve the
quality of the patient care or the treatment services which are being offered by the healthcare
professionals to the patients. In this relation, it needs to be said that the implementation of the
scientific workforce management system is likely to help the healthcare organizations to reduce
the workload or the work stress of the healthcare professionals and thereby improve the quality
of patient care. However, for the effective implementation of the change under discussion here
the healthcare organizations would have to take the help of adequate change management models
and also leadership approaches. These aspects of the process of change management within the
healthcare sector become apparent from the above discussion of the same in the particular
context of the implementation of scientific workforce management system in the healthcare
organizations.

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