What are we learning from studying new ways of working in healthcare organisations?

The People, Management and Organisations division will be hosting a special lecture on 6th November 2019 as part of a cross-school AMBS inaugural lecture series.

The lectures provide an opportunity for new or recently promoted Professors to celebrate their achievements, and present an overview of their own contribution to their field of cutting-edge research and highlight the latest developments in a particular discipline.

Anne McBride, Professor of Employment Relations, will give a talk on “What are we learning from studying new ways of working in healthcare organisations – and can it lead to changes in research questions, policy and practice?”

Over the last two decades, there have been persistent calls for ‘new ways of working’ in healthcare organisations – both here and across the globe. In the UK, policy documents are continually aspiring to ‘re-shape the workforce’ in one way or another, be it through increasing the flexibility of current staff in the re-allocation of tasks and blurring of professional boundaries, or the introduction of new roles and the changing of skill mix.  Repeated waves of initiatives, however, leave unchanged the perception that current ways of working are less than optimal – is it possible for research to break this cycle?

Alongside colleagues across the University, Anne has had the opportunity to study a number of these (often contested) new ways of working.  In her lecture, Anne will examine the challenges that such changes raise for employees and managers. She notes, “The idea of increasing healthcare workforce flexibility has emerged as a constant theme in framing attempts to better meet healthcare needs. I will draw on interdisciplinary research with colleagues (within the Institute of Health Policy and Organisations; Work and Equalities Institute; and GM CLAHRC) to identify the opportunities and limitations of these workforce initiatives.  Presenting an overview of this research also enables me to reflect on the meaning of interdisciplinary working, our contributions to soft regulation (rather than policy) and potential conflicts of interest in developing impact.”