The Importance of Change Management in Tallaght Hospital

Change Management

Change is a necessary evil, irrespective of the region or the activity in the society it impacted and expressed in various forms. Change management entails preparing and systematising a team, within an organisation with the purpose of achieving its goals and objectives. It encompasses implementing new business strategies, budget allocation, and appointing leaders that will accomplish the process.

Koffer Change Model

Most companies use the six steps of Koffer Change Model. In the quest for the implementation of change, the first step is the creation of a sense of urgency within the firm while the last phase is its adoption. The organisational leadership needs to take into account its processes and visions before attempting to modify with new business models and strategies. Some of the challenges that may occur along with change management include the resistance from a section of workers, the failure of the change to deliver the required results, and its incompatibility with the organisational system.

Changes at Tallaght Hospital

This paper talks about Tallaght Hospital and the changes that need to be implemented to ensure that the quality and the efficiency of the services that it offers improves significantly. The healthcare facility plans to establish a joint inflammatory bowel disease clinic, and thus, creating a steady stream of patients looking for this service.

Issues Faced by the Organization

One of the many challenges that the hospital faces is the low patient turnout. The hospital currently sees 40 to 50 patients per IBD clinic on average weekly. At present, the team in charge of running the clinic includes one gastroenterology consultant, four registrars, one IBD specialist, and one nurse whose role is to look after the clinic workflow. Based on the figures, it is evident that the hospital lacks adequate staff, essential for ensuring the administration of quality care and services to the patients. The number of IBD patients visiting the facility currently stands at 4000, and this means that it is difficult for the specialists to offer them the necessary attention and the quality care. Due to the absence of a joint inflammatory bowel clinic, some of the patients with urgent surgical issues including those suffering from an abscess have had to be sent home on several occasions, leading to the deterioration of their health conditions. Those requiring critical interventions are referred to surgical outpatient clinics. A combination of excellent leadership, unique business strategies, and a suitable organisational framework plays an integral role in the enhancement of a company’s performance.

Implementing the Necessary Modifications

Dealing with the challenges faced by Tallaght hospital by the implementation of suitable changes in the framework. To achieve the goal of enhancing revenue collection by the health facility, one of those change strategies that need to be adopted will be establishing a joint inflammatory bowel disease clinic equipped with ultra-modern facilities. This move aims at enhancing the patient flow and thereby increasing the profit earned. Conducting surgeries within the hospital, reducing the waiting time of 4-6 weeks, will be done immediately as the patient arrives in the surgical unit. A surgeon will be a part of the clinic’s board and thereby examining multiple patients a more manageable task, along with reducing the time utilised in the detection of disease and taking remedial steps accordingly.

The healthcare facility will also have to ensure that it makes changes in its organisational structure. The ratio of the IBD patients to the nurses is worrying. Currently, the only IBD nurse in the hospital has too many patients to take care of, and this makes it hard for her to administer quality and superb services. These below standard services and lack of patients admitted serves as a wake-up call for the Human Resource Department of Tallaght to hire an extra set of hands, an IBD specialist, who will contribute to an increase in the hospital’s efficiencies in meeting the needs of the patients.

The significance of Implementing the Changes within the Hospital

The expansion of the facility to include a joint inflammatory bowel disease clinic with enough medical practitioners promotes the quality of care administered to the patients. In the past, some patients with abscess or bowel strictures have had to be sent home or receive medical help after 4-6 weeks, thus leading to a decline in their health. However, a change in the process will address this issue. The number of patients visiting the medical centre for their facilities will also increase, and thereby, contribute to an increase in the organisation’s gains and profits earned.

The move by the organisation to hire an additional set of qualified specialists will be essential in boosting the quality and the efficiency of the services offered. There is a shortage in the IBD specialist, and thus, the patients receive poor quality treatment and face the challenges associated with it. The addition of an extra IBD nurse to handle these patients is necessary as not only there will be an observable enhancement in the Tallaght’s operational efficiencies but also an increase in the patients’ flow.

A surgeon will be the part of the IBD clinic board, and this will be a significant move as the patient examination will be improved along with a decrease in the waiting time, and those requiring urgent interventions with bowel obstructions cases will receive the quality care without any interruptions or delay.

Challenges that May Appear along with the Change Process

The change management team may face issues including those of resistance from some of the staff members that may not be willing to be a part of the new organisational processes and structures (Have 2017, p. 54). Moreover, the construction of a bowel clinic may be costly but may fail to generate high returns upon its completion, thereby becoming a failure and create massive losses. Hiring an extra IBD nurse may not be enough to deal with the 4000 patients, and this implies that the inadequate quality of service administered may persist.

Implementation of Change

In the mission of the application of changes within the Tallaght Hospital, embracing the John Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model will be the ideal way to handle these changes.

1. The sense of urgency

The creation of understanding the gravity of the issue at hand serves as the first step of the John Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model. The essence of this phase is that it sparks the initial motivation to keep moving towards the specified change. All workers within the facility will have to be informed about establishing the joint inflammatory bowel clinic among other changes.

2. Building a team or guiding a coalition

In this step, it is necessary to ensure that the right panel is selected to ensure that the change plan is implemented successfully, without any significant delays and hiccups. The group member will be the onboard associates including surgeons, hospital administration, and leaders in charge of handling various roles, as the situation demands of them.

3. Obtaining the vision right

The step will entail the linkage of the overall concept of the vision that can easily be grasped by the change management team and the workers. Thus, it will be easier enacting the change processes.

4. Communication for buy-ins

A combination of various communication channels for exchange of informing within the organisation about establishing a joint inflammatory bowel clinic among other changes. Regular meetings with the change management team will be essential to making the vision broader.

5. Empowering action

The step will focus on removing any obstacles that may hinder the success of the change process. Preferably the change leaders will be people who are not a part of the firm, but rather some outsiders. They will guide the hospital on the suitable organisation structure changes and put into effect innovative ideas.

6. Creating short-term wins

Wins are vital indicators of the progress of any organisation. The change team will have to determine short-term targets that will be in line with the hospital’s visions. By carefully monitoring the guide team, it will be easy for the project manager to assess the progress on the path to achieving the goals set. Incorporating strong measures for enforcement of the change process.

7. Sustaining the acceleration

The change management team will have to press harder to ensure that their set vision becomes a reality. To successfully implement all the planned modifications according to this model, to serve the patients effectively, and also increasing the profit generated, the necessary changes will include hiring a more competent worker, and they will be required to collaborate with the staff members at the healthcare facility.

8. Making the change stick

In this phase, the progress of the change process will regularly be communicated to the change management team. Creating a reward system for all members associated with the project for their efforts. The workers at the hospital will also be occasionally involved in the decision-making process and informed about the essence of the changes.

Conclusion

Tallaght hospital faces various challenges including the referral of patients requiring urgent interventions to outpatient surgical clinics and a low IBD patient-to-nurse ratio. It calls for the implementation of change management. To tackle the issues plaguing the company, hiring more IBD specialists and including a surgeon in the join inflammatory bowel clinic’s board will have an impact on the quality of services offered at present. Also, there will be an enhancement of the hospital’s service delivery. Integration of advanced technological systems is also essential to ensure that the hospital improves its customer base and by doing so, strengthen the quality of healthcare provided.

References

Have, S., 2017. Reconsidering change management. New York: Routledge.