Deconstructing the Welfare State: Managing Healthcare in the Age of Reform

Paula Hyde (University of Durham, UK)

ISBN 10: 1138787205 / ISBN 13: 9781138787209

Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom, London, 2016

Who are NHS middle managers? What do they do, and why and how do they do it? This book explores the daily realities of working life for middle managers in the UKs National Health Service during a time of radical change and disruption to the entire edifice of publicly-funded healthcare. It is an empirical critique of the movement towards a healthcare model based around HMO-type providers such as Kaiser Permanente and United Health. Although this model is well-known internationally, many believe it to be financially and ethically questionable, and often far from 'best practice' when it comes to patient care. Drawing on immersive ethnographic research based on four case studies an Acute Hospital Trust, an Ambulance Trust, a Mental Health Trust, and a Primary Care Trust this book provides an in-depth critical appraisal of the everyday experiences of a range of managers working in the NHS. It describes exactly what NHS managers do and explains how their roles are changing and the types of challenges they face. The analysis explains how many NHS junior and middle managers are themselves clinicians to some extent, with hybrid roles as simultaneously nurse and manager, midwife and manager, or paramedic and manager. While commonly working in back office functions, NHS middle managers are also just as likely to be working very close to or actually on the front lines of patient care. Despite the problems they regularly face from organizational restructuring, cost control and demands for accountability, the authors demonstrate that NHS managers in their various guises play critical, yet undervalued, institutional roles. Depicting the darker sides of organizational change, this text is a sociological exploration of the daily struggle for work dignity of a complex, widely denigrated, and largely misunderstood group of public servants trying to do their best under extremely trying circumstances. It is essential reading for academics, students, and practitioners interested in health management and policy, organisational change, public sector management, and the NHS more broadly. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR009215108

Synopsis:

Who are NHS middle managers? What do they do, and why and how do they do it’?

This book explores the daily realities of working life for middle managers in the UK’s National Health Service during a time of radical change and disruption to the entire edifice of publicly-funded healthcare. It is an empirical critique of the movement towards a healthcare model based around HMO-type providers such as Kaiser Permanente and United Health. Although this model is well-known internationally, many believe it to be financially and ethically questionable, and often far from 'best practice' when it comes to patient care.

Drawing on immersive ethnographic research based on four case studies – an Acute Hospital Trust, an Ambulance Trust, a Mental Health Trust, and a Primary Care Trust – this book provides an in-depth critical appraisal of the everyday experiences of a range of managers working in the NHS. It describes exactly what NHS managers do and explains how their roles are changing and the types of challenges they face. The analysis explains how many NHS junior and middle managers are themselves clinicians to some extent, with hybrid roles as simultaneously nurse and manager, midwife and manager, or paramedic and manager. While commonly working in ‘back office’ functions, NHS middle managers are also just as likely to be working very close to or actually on the front lines of patient care. Despite the problems they regularly face from organizational restructuring, cost control and demands for accountability, the authors demonstrate that NHS managers – in their various guises – play critical, yet undervalued, institutional roles.

Depicting the darker sides of organizational change, this text is a sociological exploration of the daily struggle for work dignity of a complex, widely denigrated, and largely misunderstood group of public servants trying to do their best under extremely trying circumstances. It is essential reading for academics, students, and practitioners interested in health management and policy, organisational change, public sector management, and the NHS more broadly.

About the Author:

Paula Hyde is Professor of Organizations and Society at Manchester Business School, UK. Her research interests lie in the sociology of work and critical explorations of how care is organized.

Edward Granter is Lecturer in Organization and Society at Manchester Business School, UK. His research focuses mainly on the sociology of work and organizations, and Frankfurt School Critical Theory.

John Hassard is Professor of Organizational Analysis at Manchester Business School, UK. His main research interests lie in organization theory, management history, and corporate change.

Leo McCann is Professor of Organization Studies at Manchester Business School, UK. His research focuses on the impact of neoliberal restructuring on economies, organizations, and workers.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Deconstructing the Welfare State: Managing ...
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom, London
Publication Date: 2016
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good