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Around the world policy initiatives have aimed to increase the engagement of clinicians in the management of health services and research has shown that this contributes to improved patient healthcare. Research led by Professor Ian Kirkpatrick at Leeds University Business School (LUBS) has identified obstacles to this engagement and proposed ways to overcome them. The findings have been distilled into training and educational material which has been delivered to National Health Service (NHS) staff and guidance which has been used by NHS organisations to improve practice. Collectively, this work has contributed to improved and more efficient patient healthcare in several NHS trusts.
Research at Oxford has played a central role within the recent restructuring of the nursing workforce to improve healthcare quality in a context of growing service demands and tightening resource constraints. Much of this restructuring has been heavily dependent on the use of the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) role, provoking much controversy. Presented as a flexible, low cost resource, these HCA roles are also unregulated and therefore seen as a potential source of patient risk. Oxford researchers have fed into this debate across a number of projects, strengthening the evidence base on the nature and consequences of the HCA role. Examining the role from the perspective of different stakeholders, these projects have impacted on national, regional and local policy and practice centred on the management and use of HCAs. In so doing, the research has contributed to the development of a more productive and safer nursing workforce.
The University of Aberdeen's Business School has built a strong programme of research focussing on managing strategic change, particularly in the healthcare sector. Using a conceptual framework which explores the complex interplay between organisational context, content and process, the University has completed a number of studies looking into patient safety, quality and service redesign, four of which are described here. Because the work routinely involves health care stakeholders across the research pipeline, from articulation of the research problem, through to recommendations and the delivery of solutions, impact is wide-ranging, including changes in staff behaviours, improvements to safety, and significant financial savings.
University of Glasgow research on service design, delivery, and performance in healthcare settings shaped strategies for integrating health and social care organisations in the, then newly formed, East Glasgow Community Health Care Partnership resulting in changes to the organisational development and partnership working practices. Additionally, the research contributed to intelligence and improved practices for ensuring patient safety in Lancaster Royal Infirmary. Through a series of workshops, targeted research communication and collaborative working on strategic planning, the research on service delivery and resilience in healthcare settings contributed to, and shaped developments of, Emergency Guidance and Business Continuity Planning prepared by NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government and NHS 24.
Research at Newcastle has made a significant contribution to the public services modernisation agenda in the areas of inter-agency working and information-sharing. The research showed that effective information-sharing required not just that different information systems are made compatible with each other, but also that people from different professional cultures are enabled to work together through a common understanding of information governance issues. In active collaboration with a range of service providers, a number of processes and tools were developed for the significant benefit of service users. They have been implemented in a variety of policy settings, including children's services and adult social care, and have informed current programmes funded by the UK government.
The Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) research programme is a project funded by Policy Research Programme Department of Health and led by academic staff at City University London which investigates how technology can help people manage their health and safety while maintaining their independence. The WSD evaluation provides scientific evidence that has influenced and continues to influence public policy debate in the UK and internationally. It has shaped UK Department of Health policy and strategies regarding deployment of tele-assistive devices to meet the growing health and social care demands in a changing population. And it is helping to shape manufacturers' design of services with the user in mind and how health and social care providers offer tele-assistive services.
This case study highlights a body of research around health Research Priority Setting (RPS) that assists policy makers in effectively targeting research that has the greatest potential health benefit. Empirical research on RPS led to organizational changes, and new policies within the Cochrane Collaboration along with new training resources and new RPS exercises. A research gap on inequalities in the risk of oral cancer in the English South Asian population led to an evidence synthesis exercise being carried out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the formulation of a new public health guideline.
Helicon Health is a UCL spin-out company providing a stroke prevention clinical management service (Helicon Heart) developed through UCL health informatics research. In partnership with Whittington Health, a large north London hospital, Helicon Heart provides stroke prevention management to 5 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) across north London and Hertfordshire, covering 2 Hospital Trusts, 30 General Practice delivery sites and 3 Community Pharmacies. The system underpins clinical care for 3,000 at-risk patients, and Helicon Health has secured additional contracts to extend this to 4,500 patients in 2014. Every prevented stroke saves the NHS £16,000 per annum; the estimated saving to each CCG is approximately £500,000 per annum, to which the Helicon Heart service makes a significant contribution.
Durham University's Centre for Public Policy and Health (CPPH) has worked closely with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Regional Office for Europe to help design the European Action Plan for Strengthening Public Health Capacities and Services. The European Action Plan (EAP) draws extensively on three major CPPH research projects on the nature and governance of the public health system in England. The EAP, endorsed by all 53 WHO Member States in September 2012, is a main pillar for the implementation of the WHO's policy framework — Health 2020 — also endorsed by Member States.
This case study focuses on the research conducted by members of the UoA examining the services offered to service users and carers in secure settings. This includes forensic mental health services and prisons. It has had a significant impact on the development of professional practice in secure settings based on the views, experiences, and needs of service users and carers. It has established service user and carer engagement in research conducted in secure settings. It has also informed service and policy developments in the United Kingdom and internationally.