Assessment of Change Management Models in UK Health and Social Care

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CONTENTS
CONTENTS...................................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1.........................................................................................................................................................3
1.1............................................................................................................................................................3
1.2............................................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2.........................................................................................................................................................5
2.1............................................................................................................................................................5
2.2............................................................................................................................................................6
2.3............................................................................................................................................................6
2.4............................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 3.........................................................................................................................................................7
3.1............................................................................................................................................................7
3.2............................................................................................................................................................8
3.3............................................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The assignment focusses on the changes that occur within health and social care sector. It aims at
understanding the changes and views the Care Act (2014) as an example. It also explains us about the
impact the changes have on the people and suggests ways to measure the overall impact. This
assignment helps us broaden our views on the recent changes that have taken place in the health and
social care sector. It also highlights the key factors that bring about change in health and social care
sector. The project helps us understand the facilitation of changes and also helps in understanding the
criteria for these changes that are implemented in health and social care system.

TASK 1
1.1
Regular changes in the health and social care sector can be beneficiary for the service users as well as
the service providers. The changes that are implemented aim at the provision of better service for the
service users and helps maintain an order within the health and social care sector. The changes that are

implemented take some time to be well fitted and at times may not result in improvement of the
services. The changes that are made within the health and social care sector are to be implemented
carefully (Grol, R. and Grimshaw, J., 2003). There are many factors that drive change in the field of
health and social care. These key factors are:
 Legislative factors: New legislations and laws are formed by new political parties for the smooth
functioning of the work in the field of health and social care. These laws are implemented by
keeping account of the needs and the kind of services required by the service users. There are
however, regular changes required within the legislative network. Time and efforts are needed
to understand and implement these changes as a whole within the health and social care sector.
 Economic factors: economy plays a big role in the changes that are brought about in the health
and social care system. If the economy of the country is bad, then it affects the budget of the
organizations in the health and social care system. Limited budget in the system results in cut
down of services and failure to deliver good quality service to the people.
 Social factors: One of the key factors that drives change in health and social care are the social
factors. These include the service users as well as the service providers. All the changes that are
to be taken by the organizations in health and social care are taken as per the necessities of the
patients. The goal of organizations in health and social care sector is to provide good quality
patient centered care. The requirements of the patients drive the change in the system so that
they can be provided with the care they require (Grol et al, 2013). Changes are also
implemented so that the service providers and are able to perform well and thus provide good
services.
 Technological factors: There are new technologies and processes coming up every day. For
efficient and effective healthcare, there should be policies that incorporate the use of these
technologies in the field of health and social care.
 Environmental factors: Changes in the environment can also bring about change in the
legislations and policies. In case of epidemics or any complications, changes are made and the
care treatment of the patients is also altered.
The changes that are facilitated in the health and social care system, like the Care Act (2014) are very
helpful changes made in the system but such changes take some time to be well coordinated with
(Shartzer et al, 2015). As we have observed from the case study, funding too can be a major factor for
changes in the field of health and social care.

1.2
The changes that are brought about in health and social care aim at the provision of good quality service
to the service users. Changes are not smoothly implemented in health and social care sector. There are a
lot of challenges that are faced by the service users, service providers and the organization itself. The
impact of changes affects all the sectors of health and social care:
 Service providers: A sudden change or implementation of a new law is a sudden change for
coping up with the new system. The service providers may have to change their treatment
plans, cut down staff or even hire new staff. Such changes can be hard to be implemented if the
employees aren’t fully aware of the situation. The organization needs to educate their staff
members about the new changes and policies as well as the reasons, aims and benefits of such
changes. If the service providers are fully aware of this change, then it would be easier for them
to manage things and even educate the service users about the changes.
 Service users: The impact of changes in health and social care directly impacts the service users.
Though the changes are implemented for the betterment of the health of people, it can bother
the service users as they are accustomed to a set of policies. These changes may not be taken
well by everyone, especially the older service users (Frieden, T.R., 2010). As the changes may at
times affect the treatment plan of the patients and may also affect the funding. Due to this, the
family of the patients may also be alarmed about such changes. To prevent such situation, the
general public or at least the service users should be well informed about the changes.
 Organization: the major impact of changes in health and social care system is on the
organization itself. Since the organization in question is responsible for managing the two
sectors mentioned above, backlash or negative approach towards a certain change in health and
social care field can be an alarming situation for them. The organization is the one responsible to
facilitate the changes in health and social care system and thus it is responsible to manage the
interests and concerns of the service users as well as the service providers. However, certain
changes can have other effects that may affect the working of the organization. One of the
major effects of changes in health and social care can be low funding, which results in
inadequate health care facilities for the people and may result in low wages for the staff. The
low wages pose to be a problem as the staff members won’t be too keen to do their jobs and
some of them may even leave.

Changes in the field of health and social care takes some time to be implemented and accepted by the
service users, service providers as well as the organization. The Care Act (2014) changed the entire
system of working in health and social care and faced some challenges when it was enacted but it
proved to be working better for the people. (Kowalski, A.E., 2014)
TASK 2
2.1
The changes devised in the field of health and social care are aimed at the improvement of quality of
services as well as the standards of life. These changes may not target the existing issues and possibly
may have other negative effects. Thus we need to device strategies and measure the changes in health
and social care system. There are various strategies and criteria that can help with measuring the
changes for health and social care. These strategies are:
 Questionnaires: questionnaires are an effective way to evaluate the effect and impact of change
on the people. These questionnaires can be for the service users as well as the service providers.
The questionnaires may include questions which will help in understanding the views of the
public on the issue of health and social care.
 Feedback from patient and families: A general feedback regarding the changes in the system of
health and social care is another way of evaluating the changes. The feedback from the patients

can also give an insight to the needs of the patients and thus help in implementing further
changes in health and social care sector. (Gröne, O. and Garcia-Barbero, M., 2001)
 Interviews: Patients, the families of patients as well as the general public can be interviewed so
that their views are broadcasted out to the people and thus the impact and acceptance of the
changes can be evaluated.
These strategies could also have helped in evaluating or measuring changes when the Care Act (2014)
was passed.
2.2
Measuring the impact of changes in health and social care is as important as implementing the changes
in the system. The impact of these changes can be positive as well as negative. To properly measure the
impact of the change and work on it, one needs to access the data of the organization. By measuring
and comparing data of the company, we can measure the impact of the change implemented in
question. The profit and loss of the organization can be evaluated by analyzing the past and present
records of the company. The impact of the changes can also be evaluated by looking into patient
feedbacks. The patient feedbacks help in understanding the positive or negative impact as it highlights
the patient outlook on the change implemented. Moreover, if the organization is receiving more flow of
patients and is also being celebrated and discussed among the patients, then this means that the
changes appear to have a positive impact (Paina, 2011). The impact of the changes in health and social
care sector cannot be just analyzed by looking into patients, the impact of the changes is also seen
among the service users. If the service users are able to cope with the changes and are able to perform
better with the changes that are applied, then the impact of the changes is positive.
2.3
The changes that are applied by the government or certain agencies in the field of health and social care
have an overall impact the people. The short term impact may be negative for a group of people but the
long term impact may be positive if seen from a broader perspective. The changes that are implemented
within the legislative framework in health and social care are implemented carefully, according to the
demands and needs of the people in health and social care sector. The changes that took place when
the Care Act (2014) was passed were a lot and they had some negative impact (Schoen et al, 2007). The
negative impact of the changes was the drop in the funding which resulted in low wages for the
employees in health and social care. The low wages resulted in lesser employees turning up to work in

the organizations. This impacted the quality of services that were provided to the clients. The Care Act
(2014) has however, implemented some of the changes that really helped the entire system.
2.4
The changes that occur in the system of health and social care is in accordance with the priorities and
needs of the service providers, service users as well as the organization. Any change that occurs in this
system of health and social care should ideally be beneficial to the service users, service providers as
well as the organization itself. Any change that negatively impacts an aspect of health and social care
system can also impact another aspect. It occurs like a chain reaction. As we have noticed that the
changes due to the Care Act (2014) resulted in decrease in the funding and thus negatively impacted the
service providers. The employees of the organization had to work for low wages and this decreased the
number of employees. The decreased number of employees resulted in reduction in the quality of the
services provided to the people. This reduction in the quality of services impacted the service users and
thus affected their health. Reduction in patient satisfaction can result in loss for the organization and
thus impact their business which could impact the resources. Thus the negative impact upon one aspect
in health and social care is seen in other aspects too (McKenna et al, 2004) . The changes should be
facilitated in a way that all the groups of people involved in health and social care sector are benefitted
by it. The changes that are made should be closely monitored for its impact on the people. The people
involved should also be informed about these changes and they should have a right to give feedback
about the changes. This will also improve the healthcare system as all the groups of people involved in
health and social care system will feel like a part and their views on the change in the system can help us
understand better about the impact of these changes.

TASK 3
3.1
Every person has a different reaction to change and thus organizations to make sure that the
management of change is done in a way that no single person suffers from it. There are certain models
which describe how an organization should incorporate change (Burnes, B., 2004). One such model is
called the Kurt Lewin model (1958). It is a three staged model: -
 Unfreezing: - organizations are released from their normal position to accept change.
 Having a goal and working towards it to accept the change.
 Refreezing: - locking the change in the organization after the members have embraced the
change.
Another model given by Kottler which focuses on leadership qualities. Leadership qualities and
communication are an important aspect in the model and thus it focuses on the leadership qualities. The
model given by Kottler is an 8 staged model. The stages are listed below.
 Creating urgency for people to adapt change.
 Formation of a group that has the power.
 Having a vision for the required change.
 Communication regarding the vision for change.
 Removing the obstacles in the path of change.
 Creating short term goals and achieving them.
 Enforcing changes in the system slowly.
 Anchoring change in the management of the organization.
Both the models help in providing path to managing change which is done over time.

3.2
Changes that are made in health and social care are done through various steps that help organization
understand the motive and importance of the change. First step in this process is identification of
problems. This identification helps in understanding the core reason and people’s needs. After the
identification stage is over now is the time to prepare a plan of action according to which problem
solving will start. Having short or long term goals according to the problem is the best way to work on a
plan of action. Checking the long term and short term goals after their implementation so that service
providers do not get off track is also very important. Preparation of guidelines and policies is also very
important as they help in guiding through the course of action. A manager can also be appointed who
will help people to go through the change. Manager should be the person who has good communication
skills and can solve problems quickly. He will also be the person to keep check on all activities and make
sure there is no time lag in any activity. After the plan has been established, the reaction of service users
is analyzed towards it. Comparisons are made with the older system and user’s perception towards the
new one is evaluated. If the response is positive towards the new approach, the implementation of
change takes place with the help of different methods like training, skill development, etc. The
evaluation does not stop here. The implementation of change needs to be evaluated as well (Antunes et
al, 2011). Assessment of the changed system is also done so as to know if there needs to be any kind of
modification. This is very important while providing a good quality of service as users may have different
problem now which can be more severe than the previous one. Once all this is done and it is made sure
that users are satisfied with the change, the change is made effective and all the policies relating to it
are put into power.
3.3
After the changes have been successfully enforced in the system it is very important to keep a track on
the activities. Old practices might still be continued which will indicate that the recent change is failing.
This track keeping can be done by forming a committee dedicated for this work or the manager can step
in and do the task. Monitoring and reviewing every individual’s work and providing proper training
based on it will ensure enforcement of the changes in the organization. Surveys can also be conducted
to know more about people’s behavior towards change. Manager can also learn about the working
pattern change compared to the previous method. Users can be provided with feedback forms so that
they can freely express what they feel without any kind of fear. These feedback forms can be used to
enhance the working of the system. There should also be a complaint committee which will receive

complaints from users and give fast response to all user queries. Besides user review, the working of the
organization should also be reviewed (Spear, M., 2016). This will help in learning more about how the
service providers are dealing with the change. They should also be taken into consideration so that
when they help the users they themselves are comfortable with the change. The overall working of the
organization should be reviewed so that the system achieves efficiency in providing good service and in
managing the change.

CONCLUSION
The assignment can be brought to an end by concluding that the changes that are implemented in
health and social care sector are brought about for the improvement of the standard and quality of
services provided to the people. The assignment has helped in the analysis of such changes. The changes
that occur in health and social care organizations are necessary and are aimed at helping the people.
these changes can however have a negative impact and thus the assignment discusses the criteria and
strategies by which we can evaluate the changes that are implemented. The changes that are
implemented are also assessed by the acceptance of the people involved in health and social care group.