Effective Problem Solving and Decision Making in NHS Healthcare

This report delves into the problem-solving and decision-making processes within the National Health Service (NHS), identifying key challenges such as inadequate funding and declining service quality. It evaluates these problems using tools like the PMI chart and explores alternative solutions, including raising funds through loans and collaborations, developing balanced teams, and implementing new policies. Decision-making techniques such as nominal group thinking, the Delphi Technique, and brainstorming are examined to determine the most suitable options. The report also outlines a plan for executing solutions, focusing on improving funding and service quality, along with a communication strategy for engaging stakeholders. Finally, it proposes monitoring and review techniques to ensure the effective implementation of solutions, emphasizing feedback collection, regular meetings, and customer surveys. Desklib offers this assignment as a resource for students studying healthcare management and organizational problem-solving.

Problem Solving and
Decision Making
(PART – 2)
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................1
Defining a complex problem in the NHS...............................................................................1
Evaluating information on the determined problem for informed decision making..............1
Range of alternative solutions to the issue.............................................................................2
Decision making techniques for analysing solutions and determining the most suitable
option......................................................................................................................................3
Development for plan for executing the solution...................................................................4
Communication plan to stakeholders.....................................................................................5
Evaluating suitable monitoring and review techniques for making sure effective
implementation of solutions...................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Decision making is being referred as the action of selecting amid two and more
alternatives. it is a process of making choice amid what is right and what is wrong. Further,
decisions are being made when there is some issue. It is a crucial skill for the business and
life and thus, individuals need to be more attentive at time of taking decisions for enhancing
the quality and solving the problem effectively (Corfield and et.al., 2020). Based on this, the
current research report aims to recognise the problem-solving tools and techniques for
determining as well as proposing solutions to a work-based problem and will also include
analysis of the possible solutions. The organization selected for the present purpose is NHS, a
publicly funded healthcare system in England. The report will define the complex problem in
the workplace, propose solutions and use techniques for determining the suitable options.
Further, plan for executing the solution will also be prepared and evaluation techniques will
be used for ensuring successful execution.
MAIN BODY
Defining a complex problem in the NHS
Working in the health and social care services is not an easy task and there are
different challenges and issues that might take place which can impacts the overall working
and functioning of the healthcare system. National Health services (NHS), a publicly funded
healthcare system in England is also coming across with numerous problems and difficulties.
However, the most important among them is related with funds. The company does not have
adequate funds for sustaining effective operations (Lanier, 2018). For running an effective
business and healthcare system, there is a requirement of adequate funds but the company is
facing issue regarding this. In addition to this, the quality of services being offered by the
firm was also declining constantly due to obsolete policies and procedures being used by
NHS. The firm is not in a position to cope up with the altering demands of the people.
Evaluating information on the determined problem for informed decision making
The significance of finance or funding in the health care business cannot be
exaggerated. Funding is quite essential for NHS running the business effectively, offering
quality of care to the patients, meeting the demands of the customers and expanding their
operations. however, the company is facing the issue of funds and are not having adequate
financial capital for meeting their demands and carrying out their operations successfully.
The day to day increasing demands is not been met by the company and thus, they need to
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adequate solution to this problem. In addition to this, the other important problem being faced
by NHS is related with the quality of services. Being in a health care industry, quality plays a
very crucial role for the company (Janssen, Van der voort and Wahyudi, 2017). It is
obligatory on the part of the company to render effective services to the patient so that they
can enhance their health. however, with the past few years, the quality of services of the firm
is declining constantly and this is not a good sign as it might impact the reputation, brand
image and overall existence of national health services. For evaluating the information on the
determined problem, the PMI chart can be utilized for the purpose of having informed
decision making. It is one of the most effective brainstorming, critical thinking and decision-
making tool for encouragement of enhanced ideas and concepts and it is being explained
underneath:
 Plus – NHS is making efforts to offer and deliver health care services to the people.
Workers effectively participate in the important decision-making process through
which the problems can be solved. Further, effectives services are being offered by
the firm regarding adequate nutrition, facilities and diet. The services are being
provided by the company at affordable prices with a view to have access by each and
every people.
 Minus – The policies, strategies and the procedures being adopted by the company are
quite obsolete, weak and ineffective because the operations of the firm are not being
directed adequately (Govindan and et.al., 2015). Employees performance is required
to be enhanced for making them more efficient so that they can compete effectively in
the competitive market. furthermore, due to the funding issues, the operations are not
performed appropriately by NHS. Services are not delivered to the patients adequately
and this has reduced the number of customers visiting the healthcare and has also
impacted the brand name and goodwill of the firm.
 Interesting – Innovative and interesting techniques are required to be adopted by the
organization for developing and executing effective solutions of the issues of the
workers. In addition to this, it is also important that the company must focus on
development of training programs and campaigns for augmenting the communication
and participation level of all the workers.
Range of alternative solutions to the issue
The healthcare organization is in great need to manage and solve this issue effectively
and appropriately because it is significantly impacting different stakeholders. At times, when
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the company or individual looks for resolving any problem than there are variety of
alternatives available for resolving the problem related to funding and quality of services of
the organization (Mardani and et.al., 2015). There are varied solutions which can be utilized
by NHS for addressing these problems and these are as follows:
 The organization can raise the funds from different sources such as bank loans,
retained earnings, debt capital, equity capital, crowd funding and borrowing funds.
 The company can also collaborate with the private organizations for resolving their
funding issues
 The firm can also emphasize on development balanced team for rendering effective
services to patients
 New policies and procedures can be developed by the firm which helps in augmenting
the quality of services
 Talented and skilled employees can be recruited
 Training and development programs for enhancing performance of the employees
Decision making techniques for analysing solutions and determining the most suitable option
Talking in relation with the decisions, it plays a very crucial role both in the business
and in the life of an individual. It is important that the company should focus on each and
every aspect at the time of making decision regarding resolving any issue. In the context of
NHS, they are facing the issues related to funding and poor quality of services (Rawlinson,
2017). There are different techniques that can be utilized for evaluating the solutions and
identifying the suitable option and these are being elaborated in the subsequent section:
 Nominal group thinks – In this technique, all the member of the firm participates in
the decision-making process. through using this technique all the workers of the firm
can share their viewpoints and express new ways of dealing with the problem. Since,
the firm is facing funding issues and poor quality of services, with this technique
ways of enhancing quality can be discussed effectively and strong team can be built
for contributing towards the goal of the firm.
 Delphi Technique – This is another technique which can be utilized by the company
for evaluating the range of solutions to the problem. It also involves taking ideas and
opinions from the employees; however, it is not disclosed to anyone for elimination of
biasness and obstacles. Through this, conflicts among the workers can also be
reduced. NHS is facing a complex problem and thus, this technique will support the
firm solving the internal problem (Donohoe, Stellefson and Tennant, 2020).
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 Brainstorming – Another important tool which is mostly utilized by the firm is
brainstorming as with the support of this method different solutions for an issue can
be discussed in a group. The company can find out creative ideas with this technique.
After analysing different alternative solutions being available with the NHS for
solving the complex problem of funding and poor quality of services with these decision-
making techniques it can be said that all the alternatives are feasible and the firm can adopt
any of the solutions to the solve both the issues. However, there are some important solutions
that can be adopted by the firm that is bank loan and borrowings from private organizations
for solving funding issue and training and development of the employees and formulating
new strategies, plans and policies for improving the quality of services of the company. These
solutions seem to be effective as they have higher potential to support the company in solving
the issues they are facing (Gallagher, 2018).
Development for plan for executing the solution
In order to execute the solutions suitable, it is very essential for the firm to develop a
plan so that they are being able to apply the solutions appropriately and successfully. The
developmental plan is as follows:
Problem Solution Objective Timeframe
Funding issues
The best option for
NHS to solve their
funding issues is
bank loan and
borrowing funds
from the private
sources
The main aim of the
firm is to perform
their daily
operations
effectively. Funds
are quite essential
for effective
functioning of NHS.
3 months
Poor quality of
services
This can be solved
by offering training
and development to
the workers and
developing new
strategies and
The major aim of
solving this issue is
to augment the
goodwill, brand
name of the firm
through augmented
4 months
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policies which helps
in augmenting the
quality of services
quality of services
Communication plan to stakeholders
It is quite essential for the NHS to communicate the plan to their stakeholders so that
the solution can be implemented effectively and successfully. For communicating the plan, a
meeting needs to be organized by the firm with the stakeholders (Hale and Booth, 2019). The
plan is as follows:
Stakeholders Information to
be shared
Frequency
of meeting
Location Purpose Mode of
communication
Customers
Plans and
policies of the
company
regarding
improving
quality of
services
Twice in a
month
Seminar
hall
Discussion
of the
problems
and issues
Verbal
communication
Employees
New strategies
being developed
by the company
and training and
development
details
Thrice in a
month
Company Offering
training and
development
and
discussion
regarding
major
quality
issues
Visual
presentation,
verbal and
written
communication
Private
agencies
Policies and
strategies of the
company for
making
arrangements of
funds
Twice in a
month
Meeting
hall
Discussing
the manners
in which
funding can
be raised
Verbal and
visual
communication
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Bank
Plans, policies of
the company for
arrangements of
funds
Twice in a
month
Meeting
hall
How
problems
related to
funding can
be
minimized
Verbal and
Written
communication
Evaluating suitable monitoring and review techniques for making sure effective
implementation of solutions
When the firm is executing the solution to any of the organizational or complex
problem than it is crucial for the company to monitor and review the effectiveness of the
solution for evaluating whether the solution being executed is adequate enough in resolving
the organizational problem being determined. There are different techniques which can be
adopted by NHS. Firstly, the healthcare organization should emphasize on collecting the
feedbacks from the workers in regards with the training and development programs being
arranged by the company. They should avail their opinion and suggestion whether they are
effective enough in making improvement in the quality of services being rendered to the
patients. Secondly, regular meetings should be arranged by the organization between the top-
level management and employees for evaluating the working environment (Lewin and et.al.,
2015). Thirdly, a survey needs to be conducted with the help of questionnaire to the
customers for determining their experience in the health care organization. In addition to this,
records and data are also being regarded as the good technique for monitoring the progress
regarding raising funds from the banks and borrowing from the private organizations. it also
includes recording and storing of documents, emails, minutes of meetings, risk resisters and
evidence of online and press coverage.
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the above report it can be stated that there are varied types of techniques
and tools which supports in evaluating the solutions of assortment of issues for example,
Delphi technique, nominal group think etc. being faced by the NHS. In addition to this, the
report has also explained the plan which is being formulated for executing the solutions and
has included the monitoring as well as review techniques for making sure that the solutions is
implemented effectively.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Corfield, L., Williams, R.A., Lavelle, C., Latcham, N., Talash, K. and Machin, L., 2020.
Prepared for practice? UK Foundation doctors’ confidence in dealing with ethical
issues in the workplace. Journal of medical ethics.
Donohoe, H., Stellefson, M. and Tennant, B., 2020. Advantages and limitations of the e-
Delphi technique: Implications for health education researchers. American Journal of
Health Education. 43(1). pp.38-46.
Gallagher, S., 2018. Brainstorming: Views and interviews on the mind. Andrews UK
Limited.
Govindan, K., Rajendran, S., Sarkis, J. and Murugesan, P., 2015. Multi criteria decision
making approaches for green supplier evaluation and selection: a literature review.
Journal of Cleaner Production. 98. pp.66-83.
Hale, A. and Booth, R., 2019. The safety professional in the UK: Development of a key
player in occupational health and safety. Safety science. 118. pp.76-87.
Janssen, M., Van der voort, H. and Wahyudi, A., 2017. Factors influencing big data decision-
making quality. Journal of Business Research. 70. pp.338-345.
Lanier, C.R., 2018. Toward Understanding Important Workplace Issues for Technical
Communicators. Technical Communication. 65(1). pp.66-84.
Lewin, S., Glenton, C., Munthe-Kaas, H., Carlsen, B., Colvin, C.J., Gülmezoglu, M., Noyes,
J., Booth, A., Garside, R. and Rashidian, A., 2015. Using qualitative evidence in
decision making for health and social interventions: an approach to assess confidence in
findings from qualitative evidence syntheses (GRADE-CERQual). PLoS Medicine.
12(10). p.e1001895.
Mardani, A., Jusoh, A., Nor, K., Khalifah, Z., Zakwan, N. and Valipour, A., 2015. Multiple
criteria decision-making techniques and their applications–a review of the literature
from 2000 to 2014. Economic Research-EkonomskaIstraživanja. 28(1). pp.516-571.
Rawlinson, J.G., 2017. Creative thinking and brainstorming. Routledge.
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