Navigating the messy reality of change in Health and Social Care

Navigating the messy reality of change in Health and Social Care…..

Studies show only 1 in 3 organisational change efforts are a clear success, dropping to around 20% in healthcare. So, why so difficult?

Implementing change in health and care is like wrestling an octopus. We're dealing with entrenched processes, complex organisational systems, some questionable IT answers multiple stakeholders - there’s a lot to manage. 

Just looking at the stakeholders - clinicians, clerical staff, patients, regulators, watchdogs, local government reps, the list goes on and each has their own priorities. Not to mention adjusting long-held clinical mindsets in a risk-averse field is an uphill battle. 

Yet change is critical for improving patient outcomes, keeping up with clinical advances and recovering post-covid. Here are three top tips we always keep in mind in structuring our programmes:

1) Prioritise stakeholder engagement from the start. Using a framework like Kotter's 8-step process can help. 

2) Take a complex adaptive systems view. Health and care are often non-linear, unpredictable contexts requiring decentralized decision-making, especially in urgent and emergency care. 

3) Consider your change approach and narrative carefully. Something like Lewin's unfreeze-change-refreeze model is helpful when looking at mindset shifts.