University Assignment: Facilitating Change in Health and Social Care

This report delves into the dynamics of change within the health and social care sector, analyzing the key factors that drive these changes, including political, economic, social, and technological influences. It explores the challenges arising from these factors, such as economic constraints and demographic shifts, and evaluates strategies employed to measure and manage these changes. The report assesses the impact of recent changes against established criteria, examining both positive outcomes like improved employee skills and negative consequences like technology adoption difficulties. It also evaluates the overall impact of these changes on service delivery, financial stability, and stakeholder satisfaction. Finally, the report examines appropriate service responses to these changes, offering insights into change management principles, planning, and monitoring to ensure effective adaptation and improvement within health and social care organizations.

Facilitating Change in
Health and Social care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
1.1) Key Factors that Drives Changes in Health and Social Care..........................................1
1.2) Challenges Brought by Key Factors in Health and Social Care.....................................2
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................3
2.1) Strategy and Criteria for Measuring Recent Changes in Health and Social Care...........3
2.2) Impact of Recent Changes in Health and Social Care in Comparison to Set Criteria....4
2.3) Evaluation of Overall Impact of Recent Changes in Health and Social Care.................4
2.4) Appropriate Service Responses to Recent Changes Faced by the Organisations...........5
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................6
3.1) Key Principles to Change Management..........................................................................6
3.2) Explanation on How Changes are Planned in Health and Social Care...........................7
3.3) Monitoring Recent Changes in Health and Social Care Services...................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Health and Social Care can be defined as the term which is related to providing the
services which are available to health and social care providers (Definitions for health and social
care, 2019). It includes both the public and private sector organisations which provides the
health care services to the patients or users. The following assignment is based completely on the
health and social care services and it will start with making its discussion on the key factors that
drives change in health and social care services along with the challenges bring by the key
factors to health and social care services. In addition to this, the discussion will be made about
strategy for measuring recent changes in health and social care along with their impact as well.
Further, the discussion will be made about the overall impact of these changes, the responses
given by health and social care and the key principles to change management. Lastly, the
discussion will be made about the planning of changes in health and social care along with the
ways to monitor changes in health and social care.
LO 1
1.1) Key Factors that Drives Changes in Health and Social Care
The discussion of the key factors which drives changes in health and social care services
are provided as under:
Political Factors: These factors have impacted greatly on the working of the health and social
care services as the governmental rules and regulations for this sector are very strict. This factors
concerns the healthcare organisations about the policies and procedures of government according
to which they have to work upon (Barton and et. al., 2016). The change of government could
completely impact upon the condition of the health and social care service in UK both in the
positive as well negative ways. It is because the policies made by the new government may be in
favour or against the health and social care services.
Economical Factors: The organisations is also dealing with the economical factors as well in
the negative ways. It includes the factors such as interest rates, disposable income of customers,
GDP of a country, financial situation and many more. So the organisation in health and social
care services are not in a good financial situation and neither is able to get proper funds from
organisations such as NHS which is having proper amount of adequate funds with them at low
interest rates but these health organisations are also not getting any support and help from these
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organisations as well. It has impacted negatively on the working of the organisations in health
care.
Social Factors: These are the factors which impacts upon the working of an organisation due to
changes in the tastes, preferences, feelings of people in the organisation. As due to low financial
situation of the health care organisations, they are not able to provide good salaries and wages to
their employees and this has impacted negatively on the working of organisation as the feelings
of people towards health and social care organisations is now changed (Stoops, Williamson and
Braa, 2018).
Technological Factors: With the technical advancements in the working of health and social
care organisations, some organisations have advanced but the organisations who are not well
equipped with good technologies are lacking behind in providing good services to the their users.
1.2) Challenges Brought by Key Factors in Health and Social Care
The challenges which have been faced by the health and social care services which are
brought by the key factors are provided as under:
Economic Challenges: The organisations working in the health and social care services were
faced by many economical issues which has impacted negatively on the working of the these
organisations. They do not have proper sources of acquiring funds and what they had were not
sufficient in providing good services to the users and these organisations are also not able to
provide wages to their employees (Thomas, 2017). So the main challenges was related to getting
adequate amount of funds for the company and providing their employees with proper wages.
Demographic Challenges: The low wage rate of the employees impacted upon the mindset of
their employees as no one wants to work with low wages rates. So in this way, the health and
social care organisations were facing with issues that has also impacted negatively on the
working of this organisations. It also started losing their customers as due to the quality
deficiency. Due to shortage of finance, proper equipments used to provide the customers with
proper treatment were not available and due to this the quality of service provided to the lowered
and down and this has impacted negatively on the working of the organisation. These are the
issues which were faced by the organisations due to changes in the attitude of employees and the
customers as well impacted negatively on the working of organisations.
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LO 2
2.1) Strategy and Criteria for Measuring Recent Changes in Health and Social Care
Based on the above challenges which have been faced by the organisations in Health and
Social Care Services, there are several strategies which have been formulated by the
organisations in order to measure the recent changes in health and social care services such as
changes in the political factors, economical issues, social characters, technological issues were
being faced by the companies (Brummel‐Smith and et. al., 2016). The discussion of these
strategies has been provided as under:
Inspections: With the help of conducting inspections, it will be possible for the health care
organisations to know about the views and ideas of their employees and customers to know
about the areas of improvement and the places where the services of the organisation are lacking
behind. The inspection could be done with the help of conducting surveys, questionnaires, etc.
This will help the health and social care organisations to work for the betterment of their own
conditions and making their financial situation stable.
Feedback from Customers: It can also be done by the organisations to make continuous
improvements in the working conditions of the organisation to take feedback from the customers
at the time of their leave from the hospital so that on the basis of feedback provided by them, it
will be possible for the health and social care service organisations to make improvement in the
services provided by them to their customers.
Self Evaluation: It is the most important strategy which the employees of the health and social
care organisations will adopt in order to know about their own strengths and weaknesses
(Redmond, 2017). With the help of this strategy, it will be possible for the organisations to
provide their customer with better services with improved quality which will help in the growth
and development of the organisation. It will help the employees in making improvement at their
own in their skills and knowledge and the areas where the services of the organisations are
lacking behind.
The set criteria for measuring recent changes is related to the benefits which will be
provided to users of the services and the improvement in the financial situation of the company
will help in knowing about measuring the changes that has been made in the implementation of
the strategies in the health and social care organisations.
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2.2) Impact of Recent Changes in Health and Social Care in Comparison to Set Criteria
The following strategies which have been deployed in the working of the organisations
have impacted in positive way on the working of these organisations. It is because with the help
of implementation of the set criteria, it will be easy for the organisation to notice the level of
changes that has been made in the working of the organisations. Also, the organisation have been
much successful in making good relation in between the employees and the users of the services
of the organisation. With the help of these strategies and the set criteria, it has become possible
for the organisations to focus continuously on their working and have also worked on the
deviations which they had founded in the work of their employees and has adopted the measures
with the help of which these deviations from the work of their employees could be reduced. The
implementation of new technologies in the working of organisation has also improved the way of
working of the organisations and also in the quality of their services (Lawrence and et. al. 2016).
However in starting, it created some problems and issues related to their use which were further
removed with the help of continuous use and practise and made the employees to use perfectly
the equipments equipped with the latest technology.
For example, the use of electronic records in place of manual records is also a part of
implementation of new technology in the working of organisations which have helped in
maintaining proper records of the transactions and the data about their customers also. It was not
possible for the organisation at the time when the company was maintaining their records
manually. So the4se improvements have been with the help of setting criteria in relation to the
recent changes in the health and social care service organisations.
2.3) Evaluation of Overall Impact of Recent Changes in Health and Social Care
Talking about the overall impact of the recent changes and strategies that have been
adopted in the healthcare organisations for making improvement in their working, quality of
delivering service and the financial condition of the organisation. There are many issues related
to the financial position of the company, low wages provided to the employees and demographic
pressures on the health and social care organisations that has impacted negatively on the working
of these organisations (Ell, 2018). So there are some positive as well as negative changes that
have been made in the working of the health and social care organisations.
Looking on the positive changes that have been made on the working of health and social
care organisation are related to the increase in the skills and efficiencies of the employees with
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the help of implementation of new technologies in the organisation. In addition to this, the faith
of people in the services of health and social care organisation also tend to increase because of
good services provided by the organisation. In addition to this, the positive impact also includes
the improvement in the overall financial position of the health and social care organisation. The
employees of the company also find new opportunities to work and learn new things with the
help of providing proper training and development programs with the help of which their skills
and efficiencies have been improved.
The negative consequences were related to the difficulties faced by the employees in
making implementation of new technologies and learning about the ways with the help of which
it could be possible for the organisation to implement new ways of working in the organisation in
an efficient and effective manner (Gold and et. al, 2017). But this situation has been overcome
with the help of proper work and support of the staff and workers to retain a peaceful
environment in the organisation.
2.4) Appropriate Service Responses to Recent Changes Faced by the Organisations
In order to make implementation of change in the organisation in an effective and
efficient manner, it is important for the organisation focus on various issues that could impact
upon the correct implementation and could help in acquisition of needed results in the working
of the organisation. Before making implementation of change in an organisation, it is important
for the organisations to focus on the employees firstly. It can be done with the help of providing
the employees with the benefits of those changes to both the organisation as well as the
employees so that they could best implement the changes in the working of the organisation.
Theoretical information about the main considerations in the working of organisations could be
implemented (McKeown, Fortune and Dupuis, 2016). On the very basis, practical information to
the employees was provided so that they could not feel much difficulty at the time of
implementation of change.
After the implementation as well, the employees should be provided with due care and
support about the change as it is possible that there could be some doubts in the minds of
employees which are important to clear for their efficient working. With the help of this support,
the improvement in the quality of providing services could also be made. As they are provided
with proper care and support at every stage, they will show their interest also and before
implementing any change in the organisation, it is important for the companies to consider about
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the skills and efficiencies of their employees whether they are capable of dealing with the
changes or not. Lastly, it is also said that the employees should be made properly updated with
the policies and procedures of the company in case there some new implemented.
That is why it is said that appropriate service responses is important for the company to
make at the time of implementation of new changes in the health and social care organisations.
LO 3
3.1) Key Principles to Change Management
Change Management can be defined as the process with the help of which different tools,
techniques are implemented in the organisation so that they could achieve the required business
outcome. There are different models which have been propounded by different authors in
relation to the change management in organisations and for the following case, the use of
Lewin's Change Management Model has been done (Happell and et. al., 2016). In the following
model, the change in an organisation takes place in changing states of block of ice. The
explanation is provided as under:
Unfreeze: The first stage is the preparation stage in which an organisation provides employees
with the knowledge about making changes in the working. They are provided with the theoretical
information about the change so that they could prepare themselves.
Change: In the second stage, the company implements change in the organisation. The
employees in the organisation will face the theoretical knowledge in practical way provided to
them. With the help of good leadership and reassurance, the employees will be provided with
right direction. Proper communication is also important to clear their doubts. In this stage, the
employees are provided with special care and with good guidance and support (Holmes and et.
al., 2017).
Refreeze: In the last stage, the employees are now made free as now they have accepted changes
and the condition of the organisation is again stable. This stage contains makes the organisation
to come again in the normal situation and routine. This stage makes the employees to work
regularly and with the new ways of working which are important to follow by the employees.
The managers also makes sure that the employees are not getting back to the old situation again.
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3.2) Explanation on How Changes are Planned in Health and Social Care
There are different ways with the help of changes are managed in an organisation. The
discussion of the ways to plan changes are provided as under:
Management Styles: Depending upon the nature and reaction of employees, the management
style has been adopted in the organisation. For example, in case the employees are ready to
accept changes than they are dealt with Democratic Management Style in which employees
consideration are also taken and they are helped, their doubts are cleared (Maslach and Leiter,
2017). On the other hand, in case employees are not ready to accept, than Autocratic Leadership
Style can be adopted as with the help of this leadership style, it will be possible for the
organisation to make the employees to adopt changes whether willingly or non willingly.
Staff Development: Here, the discussion has been made about the development in the skills and
efficiencies of staff so that it could be possible for them to make development in their skills and
capabilities in accordance with the changing environment and the new ways of working
implemented in the organisation. So providing specific training and development programs to
employees is also important for the development of employees according to the changes made in
the organisation.
3.3) Monitoring Recent Changes in Health and Social Care Services
It is important for the Health and Social Care Service Organisation to make their regular
focus on the progress of their employees in relation to the recent changes that have been
implemented in the working of an organisation. As the new ways of working are being
implemented in the organisation, so it is possible that the employees may make some mistakes
which could spoil the whole work (Martin and et. al., 2016). The managers or supervisors should
make sure about these things and also educate their employees about the possible places where
the deviations could be caused and with the ways which could help them in eradicating those
mistakes so that they could not repeat the same mistake again.
In the effective measurement of the performance of employees in an organisation, it is
important for the organisation to consider about the change and the performance of employees
whether they are able to meet the objectives of the organisation or not. This could be done with
the help of conducting interviews, feedbacks from employees, observations, surveys that could
help the organisation in better dealing with the situations and problems that have been faced by
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their employees in implementing the change in the organisation in an appropriate manner
(Osborn and et. al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment, it has been concluded that health and social care is very
important aspect which the organisations should make consider of. Proper delivery of services is
important for these organisations for the well being of their patients. In addition to this, it is also
concluded that at the time of implementation of change in an organisation, it is important for
them to consider about the changes, issues, strategies and many other aspects on which the
organisations is needed to focus upon. This will help the organisation to make the
implementation of change in the organisation in proper way. Lastly, the conclusion has been
drawn about the use of models at the time of implementation of change which will be helpful in
getting better outcomes from the work of their employees.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barton, J. and et. al., 2016. Green exercise: Linking nature, health and well-being. Routledge.
Stoops, N., Williamson, L. and Braa, J., 2018, February. Using health information for local
action: facilitating organisational change in South Africa. In Proceedings of IFIP
WG (Vol. 9).
Thomas, P., 2017. Integrating Primary Healthcare: leading, managing, facilitating. CRC Press.
Brummel‐Smith, K. and et. al., 2016. Person‐centered care: A definition and essential
elements. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 64(1). pp.15-18.
Redmond, B., 2017. Reflection in action: Developing reflective practice in health and social
services. Routledge.
Lawrence, W. and et. al. 2016. ‘Making every contact count’: evaluation of the impact of an
intervention to train health and social care practitioners in skills to support health
behaviour change. Journal of health psychology. 21(2). pp.138-151.
Ell, K., 2018. Families and health care: Psychosocial practice. Routledge.
Gold, R. and et. al, 2017. Developing electronic health record (EHR) strategies related to health
center patients' social determinants of health. The Journal of the American Board of
Family Medicine. 30(4). pp.428-447.
McKeown, J. K., Fortune, D. and Dupuis, S. L., 2016. “It is like stepping into another world”:
Exploring the possibilities of using appreciative participatory action research to guide
culture change work in community and long-term care. Action Research. 14(3). pp.318-
334.
Happell, B. and et. al., 2016. Embedding a physical health nurse consultant within mental health
services: Consumers’ perspectives. International journal of mental health
nursing. 25(4). pp.377-384.
Maslach, C. and Leiter, M. P., 2017. New insights into burnout and health care: Strategies for
improving civility and alleviating burnout. Medical teacher. 39(2). pp.160-163.
Martin, L. T. and et. al., 2016. Strengthening integration of health services and systems. Health
Affairs. 35(11). pp.1976-1981.
Osborn, R. and et. al., 2016. In new survey of eleven countries, US adults still struggle with
access to and affordability of health care. Health Affairs. 35(12). pp.2327-2336.
Holmes, B. J. and et. al., 2017. Mobilising knowledge in complex health systems: a call to
action. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice. 13(3). pp.539-
560.
Online
Definitions for health and social care. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.definitions.net/definition/health+and+social+care>
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