Research on Employee Engagement and Patient Experience Improvement

This research report investigates the impact of employee engagement on patient experience, focusing on UK hospitals, particularly the St. Helier and Epsom Group. It aims to identify the relationship between employee engagement and patient satisfaction, explore how employee engagement enhances patient experience, and recommend suitable strategies to improve patient care. The report includes a literature review covering employee engagement factors like pay, cultural diversity, communication, and recognition, as well as patient experience factors such as treatment quality and hospital environment. The research methodology outlines the research philosophy, approach, design, data collection, and analysis processes. The expected outcome and project schedule are also presented, highlighting the importance of employee engagement in improving the overall quality of healthcare services and patient satisfaction.

Running head: RESEARCH ANALYSIS
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background of the research...................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of the Organization............................................................................................4
1.3 Research Aims.......................................................................................................................4
1.4 Research objectives...............................................................................................................4
1.5 Research Questions................................................................................................................5
1.6 Research Hypothesis..............................................................................................................5
1.7 Research Rationale................................................................................................................6
1.8 Summary................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................................7
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................7
2.2 Employee engagement...........................................................................................................7
2.3 Factors impacting employee engagement..............................................................................8
2.4 Patient experience..................................................................................................................8
2.5 Factors affecting patient experience......................................................................................9
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................10
3.1 Overview..............................................................................................................................10
3.2 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................10
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................10

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3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................10
3.5 Data Collection Process.......................................................................................................11
3.6 Data Analysis Process..........................................................................................................11
Chapter 4: Expected Outcome.......................................................................................................12
Chapter 5: Project schedule (Gantt chart)......................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background of the research
The employee engagement can be stated to be a critical concern for the different hospitals
as present in the United Kingdom because of its relation to the overall satisfaction of the
different patients. The patients are an integral part of the hospitals and with respect to this, it
becomes considerably important for the hospitals to ensure that, they engage in considerable
measures to ensure that, they are able to provide quality healthcare to the different employees
and also ensure that, there does not take place any medical errors or related patient harms
(Bishop 2013). The health care service as present in the United Kingdom can be stated to be of
good quality, however, recently, there have been various cases whereby the overall healthcare
scenario has been depleting and the different hospitals are not being able to provide premium
health care services to its customers. According to…, an important reason of consideration in the
particular scenario can be contributed to the lack of communication which takes place with
respect to the different employees in the hospital. This lack of communication contributes to the
risk related to patient care and the treatment being done especially in the case of an elderly unit.
Moreover, various causes related to the cultural sensitivity of the nurses, the problems in
the dietary checkup and the on call home visit doctors. Due to the distant nature of the upcoming
UK hospitals, the main sufferers can be stated to be the patients. In light of this, in hospitals like
the St. Helier and Epsom Group, have experienced and increased number of casualties whereby
the care of the patient has not been up to the required standard. According to Collier et al.
(2016), there has been an increase of approximately 1.3% in the last few years and hence, this
appears as a negative example. Moreover, there has been a drop in the patient reduction by 10%
which has negatively impacted the hospitals` overall revenue as well.

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Hence, the given research will be based on finding the impact of employee engagement
on the improvement of the patients in the hospital. The case of the St. Helier and Epsom Group
will be considered and the chapter will lay out sections like the Aims and Objectives of the
research, the research rational, research question and others.
1.2 Background of the Organization
The St. Helier Hospital is a hospital which is based in the London Borough of Sutton and
is run by the Epsom and the St. Helier University of the Hospital trusts in an association with the
Epsom Hospital. The hospital provides a large number of hospital services which include a 24
hour accident as well as the emergency department (Epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk 2019). In addition to
this, the group of hospitals also provide Renal as well as Transplantation service along with
services for the children named the Queen`s Mary Hospital for children. Moreover, the St. Helier
Hospital can be stated to be a major teaching hospital for the St. George`s, University of London
as well and forms the main site for the medical degree and related studies. The hospital has
various departments for emergency as well as for accidents and comprises of various
departments like the pathology, radiology, Orthopedic center and the other related diagnostic
services which will ensure premium health services to the different patients as present in the
hospital.
1.3 Research Aims
The primary aim of this research study is to investigate how the engagement level of
employees can impact patient satisfaction in UK based hospitals. Furthermore, the researcher
also aims to explore the strategies which can be applied to enhance the level of engagement of
the employees at the health care providers in order to ensure increased patient satisfaction and
care.

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1.4 Research objectives
The objectives of the research can be stated to be as follows:
 To identify the relation between employee engagement and patient experience at the
hospitals.
 To critically investigate how employee engagement enhances patient experience in the St.
Helier and Epsom Group Hospital.
 To recommend suitable employee engagement strategies to improve patient experience in
the organization
1.5 Research Questions
The different research questions which the paper aims to answer can be stated to be as
follows:
Q1: What is the relationship between the employee engagement and the patient experience with
respect to the hospitals?
Q2: How employee engagement enhances patient experience in St. Helier and Epsom Group.
Hospital?
Q3: What are the suitable employee engagement strategies to improve patient experience in the
organization?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
The research hypothesis of the paper can be stated to be as follows:
H0: Employee engagement in hospitals have no impact on patient experiences
H1: Employee engagement in the hospitals has impact on the experience of patients

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1.7 Research Rationale
The given research will be conducted because the health care industry of the United
Kingdom has been depleting considerably and with respect to this, the issue has become a
primary source of concern for the hospitals. With respect to this, it has become quite relevant and
important to understand why the standard of the service of the hospitals has been going down
and what measures can be largely adopted in order to improve the overall scenario. There have
been several cases of treatment failure and the on the home call of the doctors have also gone
down considerably. Hence, the particular research intends to find out the manner in which
employee engagement may be able to improve and enhance the overall operations of the
organization and bring about an increase in the overall patient satisfaction rate. In addition to
this, the research paper will also seek to provide an analysis of the strategies to improve the
employee engagement in the hospitals.
1.8 Summary
In this chapter the basic foundation of the research have been provided. The research
aims, objectives and the overall rationale for the research had also been provided. Moreover,
information about the hospital group and the topic of Employee engagement as a whole has also
been discussed.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The given section of the paper will present a review of literature related to the topic of
Employee engagement and the Patient experience with respect to the different theories as well as
the models which are available with respect to the same.
2.2 Employee engagement
The employee engagement tends to go beyond the general activities of the organization
and other relevant events. According to Collini, Guidroz and Perez (2015), employee
engagement tends to drive the performance of an organization. The employees who are highly
engaged tend to understand their overall job role in a better manner and will be successfully able
to lead to a better decision making on the side of the firm. These employees generally have a
higher earning rate and are able to perform their job in a better manner as compared to those,
who perform poorly and are not engaged to the overall objective of the organization. The
employee engagement can be considered to be a relevant indicator when it comes to the overall
growth and innovation of the organization. It helps to understand the overall needs of the
different employees at the workplace and assists in increasing the overall morale of the
employees by identifying the overall interests of the different employees and using them for the
overall welfare of the firm at large. Connelly (2014) states that the employee management as a
tool is usually measured with the help of employee surveys with respect to which the different
responds and other related tools are analyzed and understood to figure out the factors influencing
the employee engagement in a firm. Once the level of engagement is understood, the short
surveys and other mediums can be made use of in order to get a glimpse of the manner in which

8RESEARCH ANALYSIS
the employees are engaged or the reason why the employees are not engaged to the overall
objective of the firm.
2.3 Factors impacting employee engagement
The different factors affecting employee engagement can be stated to be as follows:
 Employee pay: The employee engagement can be stated to be a considerable factor of
employee engagement. This means that, an employee who needs to be engaged into the
overall work of the firm, will be required to be paid a considerable pay structure which
would motivate them to get involved in the overall work of the firm (Graban 2016).
 Cultural diversity: The cultural diversity also has a key role to play in the engagement of
the different employees at the workplace. Popli and Rizvi (2016) states that when a firm
has a diverse culture, the different employees remain interested as well as motivated with
respect to the overall objective of the firm.
 Communication: The clarity of communication which exists in an organization also has a
key role to play in the overall maintenance of the organization as a whole. When the
employees engage and converse with one another easily, then they are largely successful
in ensuring that they are able to perform their job well.
 Employee recognition: The employee recognition also has a great role to play in the
employee engagement as the employees who are appreciated regularly tend to feel better
and tend to perform their job roles in a better manner (Shantz, Alfes and Arevshatian
2016).

9RESEARCH ANALYSIS
2.4 Patient experience
The overall view of the healthcare consumers has been resolving and the experience
which they have with the healthcare provider forms a major consideration of determining
whether the particular customer will return to the hospital or not. Over the last few years,
although the medicinal science has evolved considerable, the treatment given to the different
employees has fallen down and with respect to this it can be mentioned that, the experience a
customer has in an organization has become a primary concern (West and Dawson 2012).
The customer or the patient experience can be defined as the sum total of the interactions
which are largely shaped by the overall culture of the organization and have an influence on the
overall perception of the customers. The patient experience is required to be the topmost concern
of the hospital executives.
2.5 Factors affecting patient experience
The factors influencing the patient experience are as follows:
 Quality of Treatment: The quality of treatment can be stated to be the first and foremost
factor which has an influence on the overall experience of the different patients in an
organization. According to West and Dawson (2012), these assist in ensuring that the
patient is satisfied with the treatment provided to them.
 Communication with the employees: The next aspect affecting the experience of the
patients at the organization can be stated to be the overall communication with the
hospital executives and other such employees and the manner in which the different
employees assisted the different customers as present.
 Overall hospital environment: The overall hospital environment also has a huge influence
on the Patient experience at the different hospitals. Once the patient feels that, the

10RESEARCH ANALYSIS
environment of the hospital is good, they will prefer taking the services of the hospital
more often (Graban 2016).
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Overview
The particular chapter will be discussing the different tools, procedures and the
methodologies which will be adopted to carry out the particular study as present. The sections
like the research philosophy, approach, design and other related aspects will be discussed in
order to present a brief overview to the particular problem and the manner in which the data will
be approached and analyzed collectively.
3.2 Research Philosophy
For the purpose of the research, the research philosophy of the Positivism has been
selected for the purpose of the research. This means that, the philosophy will apply a scientific
approach to the particular study and make use of the data which is relevant in nature as well as
accurate. The data shall be collected and researched upon in an objective manner. In this way,
the impact of employee engagement on the overall patient experience in the UK Hospitals can be
well understood and analyzed.
3.3 Research Approach
The research will be following a deductive approach(Neuman 2013). This means that the
observations which would be found out would be deduced and the findings will be analyzed
from the papers which have been carried out by the different researchers as present. This will
assist in providing an overall view of the current scenario and strategies to improve the employee
engagement in the different hospitals as present in the United Kingdom.

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3.4 Research Design
The research design which shall be adopted for the purpose of the research will be the
exploratory research design unit. This particular design will assist the researcher in exploring the
lesser reviewed areas for the particular topic and will also go a long way in assisting the
researcher to fill out the research gaps which exist (Santos, Chambel and Castanheira 2016).
Through the exploratory design, there exists a possibility of carrying out a further research with
respect to enhancing the employee engagement at the St. Helier Hospital and Epsom group.
3.5 Data Collection Process
The study will make use of primary data collection method with the help of which data as
well as information shall be collected from various surveys, questionnaires, case studies and
other such methods (Kothari 2004). The primary reason why the primary research method is
being conducted is because, it will help to identify and overcome the research gaps which tend to
exist in the realm of the study and assist in identifying the impact of employee engagement on
the patient experience. The primary target groups of the research will be the different individuals
who were the patients of the organization and also the different employees as present in the UK
hospitals at the St. Helier Hospital and Epsom. The information which would be collected shall
be analyzed and evaluated in line with the overall aims and objectives of the research study.
3.6 Data Analysis Process
For the purpose of the given study, the quantitative method of data analysis shall be used
for the analysis of the data (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2005). The Quantitative data
makes use of the statistical methods like the use of various numbers as well as data in order to
ensure that, the data which is generally collected is analyzed with the help of statistical tools and
graphs. The data which will be collected from the different respondents will be quantified and

12RESEARCH ANALYSIS
this can be used to understand the alignment with the data used during the review of literature.
This will assist in understanding an overall conclusion of the data and the objectives of the
research will be met with.
Chapter 4: Expected Outcome
The proposed outcome which the particular research aims to fulfill can be to find out
whether there exists a relationship between the employee engagement which takes place at the
hospitals and the patient experience at the St. Helier Hospital and Epsom hospitals. In addition to
this, the research also aims to understand the intensity of the impact of employee engagement on
the patient experience of the hospitals. Once this relationship between the variables shall be
explored and understood, then certain strategies to recommend the manner in which employee
engagement in the hospitals shall be recommended.
Chapter 5: Project schedule (Gantt chart)
Activity Months
M
Feb
M
March
M
April
M
May
M
June
M
July
M
August
Finalizing of the topic 
Collection of data from the secondary
sources
 
Forming a layout of the entire
research work

Conducting the Literature review   
Forming the main research plan  
Selecting the appropriate research
methodologies
 

13RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Collecting the data from primary
sources
 
Analysis of collected data sets for the
research
 
Interpretation of collected data sets in
order to find the conclusions

Concluding the Research 
Designing a rough draft  
Submitting the Final Work to the
assessor
 
The given Gantt chart provides the brief outline of the overall paper with respect to which
it can be mentioned that, specific time frames have been provided with respect to the different
chapters which are present. The overall dissertation has been expanded to a time frame of around
6 months.

14RESEARCH ANALYSIS
References
Bishop, M., 2013. Work engagement of older registered nurses: the impact of a caring‐based
intervention. Journal of nursing management, 21(7), pp.941-949.
Collier, S.L., Fitzpatrick, J.J., Siedlecki, S.L. and Dolansky, M.A., 2016. Employee engagement
and a culture of safety in the intensive care unit. Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(1),
pp.49-54.
Collini, S.A., Guidroz, A.M. and Perez, L.M., 2015. Turnover in health care: the mediating
effects of employee engagement. Journal of nursing management, 23(2), pp.169-178.
Connelly, L.M., 2014. Ethical considerations in research studies. Medsurg Nursing, 23(1), p.54.
Epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk ,2019. Home | Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals [ONLINE].
Available at: https://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/ (Retrieved on: 21 Feb. 2019).
Graban, M., 2016. Lean hospitals: improving quality, patient safety, and employee engagement.
Productivity Press.
Kothari, C.R., 2004. Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Age International.
Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D. and Festinger, D., 2005. Essentials of research design and
methodology. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson
education.
Popli, S. and Rizvi, I.A., 2016. Drivers of employee engagement: The role of leadership style.
Global Business Review, 17(4), pp.965-979.
Santos, A., Chambel, M.J. and Castanheira, F., 2016. Relational job characteristics and nurses’
affective organizational commitment: the mediating role of work engagement. Journal of
advanced nursing, 72(2), pp.294-305.

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Shantz, A., Alfes, K. and Arevshatian, L., 2016. HRM in healthcare: the role of work
engagement. Personnel Review, 45(2), pp.274-295.
West, M. and Dawson, J., 2012. Employee engagement and NHS performance. London: King's
Fund.