NHS Strategic Plan and Organizational Structure

NHS Strategic Plan and Organizational Structure

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NHS Strategic Plan and Organizational Structure

Strategic planning is meant to ensure changes that will revolutionize the organization are achievable and lays out guidelines that will ensure its ramifications are both permanent and positive. An in-depth comprehension of the desired result and the guidelines to be followed for successful implementation is essential. Structure occurs innately in every organization. It details the framework that edifies the group by facilitating the election of leaders who chart the course of the plan (Swayne, Duncan, & Ginter, 2012). A case study of the National Health Service (NHS) in England gives insight on the characteristics of a successful strategic plan for a health organization.

NHS mission is to ensure healthcare with high standards is available to all those who need it. Their vision is a nation that is well informed on their healthcare mandate and has the capacity to fulfill it leading to an increase in longevity of its beneficiaries. Their purpose is to create a favorable environment where the staff will perform optimally, and resources will be efficiently utilized in order to get the best results. The organization’s key values are compassion, enhancing lives, cooperation for patients sake, valuing people, commitment to high standards of healthcare, respect, and dignity (Talbot-Smith, Pollock, Leys, & McNally, 2006). NHS strategic plan model demands that patients take precedence over all things and reemphasizes the commitment towards promoting equitable, quality care to the public. The model helps the patient to participate in decisions pertaining to their health care and developments in NHS. This goes in line with the organization’s vision to increase individual’s control over their health and reaffirms the NHS core values that everyone counts. Maintenance of quality healthcare is another value that concurs with the NHS strategic plan model.

NHS uses the change theoretical framework. At core of this concept, is change through effective leadership. The leader should inspire commitment among its subordinates to a shared purpose subsequently generating collaboration. As NHS is a large healthcare organization, it has a complex organizational structure. It is made up of many sub-branches with their management boards and fiscal budgets; the intervention of the headquarters is limited to major decisions and funding. The national directors seat at the helm at the England board and there are semi-annual meetings where they are briefed on any development (Talbot-Smith, Pollock, Leys, & McNally, 2006). There are also policies, operations, finance, medical and human resource directorates, which complement each other’s efforts. The leaders serving in the NHS England Board are non-executive directors Professor Sir Malcolm Grant CBE, who is the chair, among other non-executive directors. On the executive side, Simon Stevens is the chief executive director.

NHS has a diverse service portfolio ranging from NHS counter fraud services to NHS supply chain management. Their main strategic theme is high-quality services that meet the clients’ criterion. NHS dental services are part of its clinical programs. The target market is the public not exclusively to NHS subscribers. The supply chain is intermittently outsourced to external providers. This outsourcing is geared towards ensuring the provision of quality products and services as dictated by the firm’s core values. Tenders are awarded to the most qualified professionals in their respective fields. NHS supply chain promotes the organization’s involvement in community development projects. This is seen through the NHS student bursaries, one of the NHS service portfolios, cooperation with the Department of education to assist underprivileged individuals (Light, 2008). The organization utilizes the value chain to implement its strategic plan.

References

Light, D. W. (2008). Will the NHS strategic plan benefit patients?. BMJ, 337.

Swayne, L. E., Duncan, W. J., & Ginter, P. M. (2012). Strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Talbot-Smith, A., Pollock, A., Leys, C., & McNally, N. (2006). The new NHS: A guide. London: Routledge.