Change Management for Quality Improvement. A Case Study of the Mid Staffordshire Hospital Scandal

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Medicine - Public Health, grade: 70.00, , language: English, abstract: Guaranteeing that the National Health Service Organisations and the affiliated human resources deliver high quality and equitable care is one of the major priorities in the contemporary health services. Yet, the metrics necessary to evaluate the quality and assurance of the healthcare is a matter subject to continuous debate. In the recent past, the concerns associated with the quality of care has attracted wide-ranging interests, particularly by the Mid Staffordshire Hospital scandal. An inquiry report into the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the Francis Report, released on February 2013 paints a grim picture of the events that transpired during fermentation of the scandal. Unfortunately, these events led to the loss of lives, due to issues which could have been managed or addressed better. Briefly, the Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals decided to pursue the Foundation Trust in 2005, which was subsequently granted in 2008. However, abnormally high death rates raised eyebrows from various quarters, triggering the formulation of the taskforce to look into the matter. It is largely believed that the scandal was triggered by the quest of the managers to cut down the operational costs and accomplish the minimum labour requirements in attempts to achieve the foundation status and qualify for the NHS trust funds. This indicates that the scandal was as a result of catastrophic organisational challenges that were triggered by poor change management.