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Introduction

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP WITHIN HEALTH VISITING TEAM IN EDMONTON LOCALITY INTRODUCTION MANAGING PEOPLE The author is a health visitor working with five other colleagues of the same grade "G " and three health visitor assistants in a clinic. The person responsible over staff management is the Locality Nurse Manager who is "I" grade. The author, is currently employed with no management role for managing others, therefore will draw on her most recent experience in a management and leadership role as a "F" grade Nurse in an acute General Medical ward and some relevant management experience from health visiting in this present job and from the previous employment as a health visitor. I will use as a benchmark the leadership/management style in the Leadlap/Clinlap model (see Table 1) to critically discuss and analyse the National Health Service (NHS) modernisation agenda and the working together documents (Do It 1998). Factors that impact on nursing/health visiting workforce environment, the role of Legislation and some management and leadership theories will be included. In the document "Working Together: Serving a Quality Workforce for the NHS, the following statements were made by Mr. Allan Milburn in 1998. "The NHS has always depended on the skill and dedication of its staff. Millions of patients have benefited from their care. And it is the staffs of the NHS who are the key to delivering the Governments ambitious programme of Modernisation for the service. That means attracting and retaining high quality staff, committed to developing their skills and keeping them up to date. A "First Class" healthcare staff also required first class employers. Employers who are committed to providing a good, safe working environment, free from discrimination and harassment" The above statement contains these elements: * Fulfilment of the Governments ambitions programme of modernization. * Attracting, and retention of staff with high quality and those who are committed to developing their skills and keeping them up to date to deliver a first class service * Employers who are committed to providing a good, safe working environment free from discrimination and harassment. ...read more.

Middle

Developing Teams for Continuous Quality Performance The contribution that team working can make to the effective delivery of quality health care was emphasized in the NHS Plan (2000), and recently in the "Shifting the Balance of Power within the NHS: Securing Delivery" (DOH 2001). The NHS Plan (2000) sets out a blueprint for action, emphasizing the need to strengthen the role of the NHS in health improvement, prevention and development of services that are accessible, convenient and delivered to a consistently high standard. As key public health and primary care practitioners, health visitors have important parts to play in achieving these goals. In the document "Securing Delivery", the emphasis is on the Trusts to develop greater responsibility for clinical teams and to promote the growth of clinical networks across NHS organization. The organisation should encourage life-long learning among the team for them to provide efficient and effective services in the long-term. Martin and Henderson (2001 p25) define the word "managerial" as effectiveness. It is a measure of the extents to which one achieves a pre-set goal. The quality of objectives is as important as the set objectives themselves. Efficiency means doing the best with minimal resources available. However in the NHS, poor performance has been due to inefficiencies in working practice. Poor performances have also been due to lack of important resources such as knowledge, skills, and the right attitudes. In order to motivate the team members, I will use team approach instead of individual learning. I will raise consciousness about the staffs' resistances to/and avoidances of what should be faced or dealt with using one or more of the methods listed in the box below (Heron, 1989). * Confronting interpretation * Objective confrontation * Subjective confrontation * Skill feedback confrontation * Inviting a confronting interpretation Clear Processes People's management objectives 1. Promote, maintain and improve the health of the local population 2. Use the team's resources efficiently and effectively. ...read more.

Conclusion

For such practitioners, Team working is usually not readily embraced. Organisational factors: would include implicit commitments from senior management to support and embrace Team working project. Thus, if time for teamwork meetings is unprotected for example teamwork is not integrated as part of professional practice with clinical guidelines, and other concurrent change within the organization would lead to failure to deliver effective service to the clients and failure to improve Woking relationship. Occupational factors: include high workloads lack of qualified staff causing stress and demands on staff. Personal factors: include lack of experience, knowledge, ill health and lack of interest. APPENDIX 6 The 7Es Economic The contribution that team working can make the effective delivery of quality There is growing body of research evidence that team working can make a substantial contribution to improvements in quality of patient care, the efficient use of resources and staff satisfaction and well being. This will require additional resources, which will be clearly identified such as time, money, experience health visitors as supervisors, facilitator educational equipment, rooms the lead coordinator however, these should demonstrate that there is added value as a result of additional financial support. The added value should also be inform of quality outcome of service, recruitment and retention of emotionally contented staff. Efficiency This will reflect at what changes take place in the delivery of care as a result of change in Team working. The quality of care and benefits are to clients can be monitored in terms of patients/clients users satisfaction of service against health visitors performances The contribution that team working can make to the delivery of quality health care was emphasised in the NHS Plan The NHS Plan (2000). Empowerment This exercise will give team members autonomy to determine their own working practices, procedures results, and reflect on their work. There is cost saving. It will also highlight the gap in the service for the health visitors. However, a change in attitude, culture and behaviour of the health visiting staff towards team working needs to be monitored. 2 ...read more.

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