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Mind the gap between policy imperatives and service provision : a qualitative study of the process of respiratory service development in England and Wales

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BMCHealthServicesResearch2008_8_248MindTheGap.pdf (309.1Kb)
Date
04/12/2008
Author
Hamilton, Sonya
Huby, Guro
Tierney, Alison
Powell, Alison
Kielmann, Tara
Sheikh, Aziz
Pinnock, Hilary
Keywords
Randomized controlled-trial
General-Practitioners
Care
UK
Organizations
Health
GP
RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
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Abstract
Background: Healthcare systems globally are reconfiguring to address the needs of people with long-term conditions such as respiratory disease. Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) in England and Wales are charged with the task of developing cost-effective patient-centred local models of care. We aimed to investigate how PCOs in England and Wales are reconfiguring their workforce to develop respiratory services, and the background factors influencing service redesign. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews with the person(s) responsible for driving respiratory service reconfiguration in a purposive sample of 30 PCOs. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded and thematically analysed. Results: We interviewed representatives of 30 PCOs with diverse demographic profiles planning a range of models of care. Although the primary driver was consistently identified as the need to respond to a central policy to shift the delivery of care for people with long-term conditions into the community whilst achieving financial balance, the design and implementation of services were subject to a broad range of local, and at times serendipitous, influences. The focus was almost exclusively on the complex needs of patients at the top of the long-term conditions (LTC) pyramid, with the aim of reducing admissions. Whilst some PCOs seemed able to develop innovative care despite uncertainty and financial restrictions, most highlighted many barriers to progress, describing initiatives suddenly shelved for lack of money, progress impeded by reluctant clinicians, plans thwarted by conflicting policies and a PCO workforce demoralised by job insecurity. Conclusion: For many of our interviewees there was a large gap between central policy rhetoric driving workforce change, and the practical reality of implementing change within PCOs when faced with the challenges of limited resources, diverse professional attitudes and an uncertain organisational context. Research should concentrate on understanding these complex dynamics in order to inform the policymakers, commissioners, health service managers and professionals.
Citation
Hamilton , S , Huby , G , Tierney , A , Powell , A , Kielmann , T , Sheikh , A & Pinnock , H 2008 , ' Mind the gap between policy imperatives and service provision : a qualitative study of the process of respiratory service development in England and Wales ' , BMC Health Services Research , vol. 8 , 248 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-248
Publication
BMC Health Services Research
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-8-248
ISSN
1472-6963
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2008 Hamilton et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation Programme. SDO/99/2005.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3255

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