Organisational Capacity and Structure in Healthcare: WMH Analysis

This essay critically analyzes the organisational capacity of Witlam Memorial Hospital (WMH), focusing on its functional structure within the healthcare context. It examines the strengths and limitations of the current bureaucratic structure, linking the organisational vision, mission, goals, and objectives to the structure. The essay highlights the importance of an ordered organisational structure for better patient outcomes and coordinated workforce management. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the bureaucratic model, particularly its impact on patient-centered care. Furthermore, the essay proposes an alternative, the informal organisational structure, to improve communication and adaptability to the changing healthcare environment. The conclusion emphasizes the need for an effective organisational structure that promotes communication, discipline, and reporting to achieve WMH's goals of quality healthcare delivery.

Running head: ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
Organisational Capacity in Health Care
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
Introduction
According to Mancini (2007), the capacity of a healthcare organisation is a mainly
deepened on the capacity of its resources and workforce. According to the organisational
theory organisations are basically collection of individuals who are brought together under a
particular environment in order to achieve a definite set of pre-determined objectives. The
concept of organisation and its capacity is extremely important under the context of
healthcare because, the market of healthcare is continuously changing including
technological, economic, scientific, social, political and demographic changes. All these
changes affect the health and healthcare demands of a particular society or group of
population leading to a demand in the increase in the organisational capacity (Spaulding et
al., 2017).
The following essay aims to critically analyse the organisational structure of Witlam
Memorial Hospital (WMH) under a context of the given case study. The critical analysis of
the organisational structure will be done on based on the strengths and limitations of the
present functional structure, analysing the importance of the organisational vision, mission,
goals and objectives and subsequent linking them to the organisational structure. The essay
will also aim to identity a different organisational structure that suit WSH much better under
the context of the increasing patient inflow.
Thesis Statement of the assignment
Having an ordered organisational structure based on any of the underpinning
organisational theory and proper strategy helps an organisation to achieve better patient
outcome in the healthcare domain. It also helps the organisation to work effectively over an
increased workforce and that too in much co-ordinated manner.

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
Strength and Limitations of the Current Functional Structure of WSH
As per the case study, it is evident that WSH organisation follows traditional
bureaucratic organisational structure. The Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory is well known in
the domain of healthcare. The traditional bureaucratic theory is based on the concept of
hierarchical structures along with strict professionals lines (commonly known as professional
bureaucracies), rules, regulations, work standards and operational procedures (Daly et al.,
2014). Moreover, Daly et al. (2014) further opined that the traditional bureaucratic structure
is also based on the ongoing efforts to improve the overall efficiency along with the
productivity of the workflow. Proper division of the work design along with a set of rules and
regulations to ensure uniform standards in the work culture helps in the maintenance of
stability within the organisation (Daly et al., 2014). In context of the advantage of the
traditional bureaucratic organisational structure, Manzi and Darcy (2017) is of the opinion
that the traditional bureaucratic organisational structure promotes stronger and forward
looking yet efficient leader at the helm. These leaders tend to evolve just as rapidly as like
that of the associated flatter organisations however with the less associated drama. This lack
of drama and strict policies help in the achieving the desired goals within the projected span
of time. The traditional bureaucratic organisational structure will help WMH to stringently
handle increase flow of the patients under increase bed numbers (250) with limited budget.
The concept of top-down hierarchies as promoted by the traditional bureaucratic
organisational structure will promote down flow of the communication from the leader
(nursing leader) to the subordinates staffs and thereby helping to disseminate the strategies
and goals in an ordered manner (Singh, 2013).
However, traditional bureaucratic organisational structure is associated with certain
set of limitations. According to Packendorff and Lindgren (2014), this type of organisation
structure only make sense for the organisation whose main flow of work does not involve the

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
incorporation of effective brain work. In order words it can be said that the traditional
bureaucratic organisational structure is mostly suitable in the type of the organisation where
manual labour is the main source productivity. However, in the domain of healthcare
organisation, mental labour is more pronounced in comparison to that of the physical labour.
It is the duty of the healthcare professionals to work or to take effective decision based on the
prevailing scenario or patient demands. Having a strict set of rules and strict sense of the
orders and hierarchical pressure hampers the overall concept of patient-centred care plan and
thereby decreasing the quality of care (Gittell, Godfrey & Thistlethwaite, 2013).
Other set of advantages and disadvantages associated with the traditional bureaucratic
organisational structure are highlighted below
Advantages Disadvantages
Supports proper hiring trained workforce Hampers productivity while bringing boredom
Does not support the concept of favouritism Results in overall inefficiency and individuality
of the subordinate professionals
Plays crucial role in policy making Results in the generation of passive along with
rule based human beings who runs behind
quantity and not quality.
Promotes hiring and promotion based on merit
(Source: Spaulding et al. 2017)
Association of among the organisational mission, vision, goals and organisational
structure
Organisational vision is to provide proper health experiences that are able to respond
according to the changing requirement of the community

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
The mission stated of the WMH is to provide best possible quality, speciality in the
health care via joining into active partnership with the patients their family of carers, the
community in large and other associated group of healthcare providers.
The strategic goals of the WMH is to develop a multidisciplinary team that is highly
performing and is efficient in procuring specialist services in order to procure high-quality
patient centred care which is effective, efficient and at the same time is able to respond to the
changing healthcare needs of the population.
The vision, mission and the goals of the organisations are is proper co-ordination with
each other. According to Maddern et al. (2006) the vision statement is about how the
organisation wants to achieve in the future and is especially designed to motivate staffs.
However, the vision statement of WMH though provides future direction lacks significance
in the domain of staff motivation. Maddern et al. (2006) is of the opinion that the mission
statement is the purpose of the organisation and it deals with the concise description of the
why the organisation exists and the purpose behind it. The mission statement of WMH
mainly deals with quality and speicality of the service procured and this agin align with the
vission statement of WMH which also deals with quality of the health care as evident from its
highlight over the healthcare experiences of the service users. Maddern et al. (2006) is of the
opinion that the core values or the goals of the organisation are set in order to generate
prioroties and belives of the resources working under the organisations. The goals of the
WMH is set according to the vision and the misison statememnt like, the mission and the
visison statement mainly promotes the imporvement of the overall quality of the patient care
while managing the high patients. For example, the goal of the organisation promotes the
concept of the multidisciplinary team. Accoridng to Weaver, Dy and Rosen (2014) creating
multidsiciplinary team helps in the effective imporvement of the overall quality of patient
care.

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
The organisational structure however, fail to aligns with the overall mission, vission
and goals of the organisation. This is because, Singh (2013) is of the opionion that the
organisation that obeys traditional bureaucratic organisational structure at times fail to work
on quality as they are mostly focused over the quantity of the workflow.
Alternative organisational structure
The best suited organisational structure for WMH will be informal organisational
structure. According to Marquis and Huston (2015), bureaucratic organizational or line
organizational structure has a clear level of hierarchy showing who reports to whom.
However, this structure has certain disadvantages like lack of proper flow of the
communication and at the same time, the different layers of bureaucracy also inhibit the
upward feedback or it can be said that the communication is dependent on the upper or the
middle level manager. So, in order to promote effective communication to make the current
resource and the work flow flexible with the present changing internal and external
environment, it informal organizational structure will be best suited. Informal organizational
structure will promote effective communication among the different spheres of the healthcare
professionals and thereby helping to make them flexible with the present mode of change.
This is because, Huczynski, Buchanan and Huczynski (2013) is of the opinion that the
informal organizational structure often helps to circumvents the strict lines associated with
the authority and horizontal mode of communication and thereby helping to get the job done
based on the different lines communication. However, informal organizational structure is
often associated with lack proper discipline and observance of the proper rules and
regulations while executing the workflow. This lead to the generation of trouble in the
healthcare sectors as discipline is the main rule behind its success. Thus, proper monitoring
by a higher official is mandatory.

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
Conclusion
Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that effective organizational
structure is important for the overall organizational success that promotes proper
communication between different spheres of the healthcare staffs and thereby helping to
active success in terms of quality or quantity. However, proper discipline or reporting is also
required to be maintained in order to proceed towards the goals of the organization (WMH)
in an ordered manner.

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE
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