Introduction
Healthcare is one of the most important activities any nation has to consider. The United Kingdom invests a lot of amount in the healthcare of the people. There are separate public and private healthcare funds to manage the health conditions of the people. The government of the United Kingdom is taking proper care in maintaining the proper health of the people. There are a number of organizations that are intended to give training in the healthcare field. “Improving access to healthcare services is a key priority in healthcare reform in the UK and in other countries. Many ways of improving access have been designed and implemented but the impact of these changes is not always well understood for patients, for staff working in the service or for the wider health system” (Lathlean, et al. 2010). The performance of the employees is related to employees’ motivation. So the motivation of the employees helps in increasing their performance. The growth of healthcare organizations increases the demand for workers in this field. Housing 21 is an organization for the health care and housing of elderly people in the United Kingdom. They provide better options of health care for the good well-being of the old people. “Many of the occupations projected to grow fastest are concentrated in the health services industry. Health Care Training Services is meeting the challenge head-on, providing the classes and topics that are needed in training the next health care workforce for these rewarding careers” (Health care training services meeting health care’s future needs today n.d.).Training helps the people working in the housing 21 to provide all the necessary requirements needed for healthcare to the people. The trained people can take care of the health of all the old people of the society by implementing necessary steps. There are many staffs working in Housing 21 who are intended to provide health care services to the people in this organization such as medication training, food hygiene, dementia care, etc. Providing high-quality healthcare services is beneficial for both the country and the people. Training helps in building the skills and knowledge of people in a healthcare organization. It helps in the future development of the organization. Training facilitates to improve the working skill of the employees. Moreover, it helps the development of the organization. Enhancing the development of the employees through motivation is the most significant aspect in the training of the staff. In this regard, the research will attempt to study the effectiveness of training in healthcare organizations in the UK.
Rationale
Importance of the topic
Healthcare has become an important activity in the UK. Due to the growing importance of healthcare in the United Kingdom, proper training in the field of healthcare has become increasingly important. Healthcare training helps healthcare organizations to provide essential health care services. The training process will help a healthcare organization to improve the quality of healthcare activities. The evaluation in the field of healthcare training will help the authorities to find out whether the necessary steps are taken in this field. If proper training in the field of healthcare is not provided, the healthcare team will not know how to provide the services to the people. Lack of training will lead to less delivery of healthcare services to the people. Training motivates the staff of the healthcare organizations to work together as a team towards the welfare of the people. Training will help the people to know about the requirements of different sections of the people. If frequent training programs are not conducted, the people of the organization will not have knowledge about the frequently changing technologies in the field of healthcare. Training is the main method to update the knowledge of the staff in the healthcare industry.
Importance to our knowledge and understanding
The healthcare training evaluation helps in improving our knowledge and understanding in the field of healthcare. It will help in understanding the methods of training provided to the staff of healthcare organizations. The interviews, questionnaires, etc done with the staff in such organizations will help in knowing the different types of healthcare problems in the country. Thus our knowledge in this field can be enhanced.
Importance to me
The evaluation of training in healthcare is very important for me personally. Since I am a healthcare worker in UK I will be benefited by knowing about the healthcare training programs conducted in different parts of the country. It will help me in knowing about the current status of healthcare provided to the people. In the future, when I be in the management position of the healthcare industry this knowledge will be useful. This will help me in taking effective decisions in the area of healthcare training.
Research Objectives
The research on training of healthcare is done to find out the effectiveness of this process in the United Kingdom. The research is mainly focused on housing 21 health care organisations. The research can be conducted by collecting data from the housing 21by different types of data collecting methods.
- The effectives of training of different healthcare workers in housing 21 can be evaluated by the research.
- The intention of this research is to examine the effectiveness of health care training and also the effect of training on motivation of health care workers in Housing 21.
Research questions
Based on the topic “Evaluation of effectiveness of Training in Health Care Organizations in the UK” some research questions are identified which will always help to improve the performance of the organization. The research questions will facilitate housing 21 to achieve the research goals which will in turn help improve its performance. That is, based on these questions, the researches are to be conducted to find out the best solution to attain the organizational goal. Some of the research questions are listed below.
- In what way the effective training helps the performance of health care industry in UK?
- What are the problems/issues that they face during the performance and the root cause of those problems because of the lack of training?
- What necessary actions are to be taken to solve these problems?
Literature review
This section generally discusses about the main concepts, definitions, ideas, and related data which meet the necessary goals and every thing which are related to evaluate and compare the level of improvements that happen through effective training in the UK health care industry. The key task here is to identify how effective training will help improve the organizational performance in UK health care industry. Therefore, the experts of hospital administration offer several training methods which benefit to produce cost-efficient orientation of the staff. Apart from that, current training strategies are identified and if any problems are found, we have to go for other better alternative solution to improve the performance of the industry.
In the review section we would discuss the main literature on the basis of which this thesis would be carried out. There are several methods which are suitable for increasing the employee performances in the organization. These are given below:
- Point out how the training programmes are implemented and also mention the priorities of the activity in the training programmes.
- Develop a strategic plan for the training programmes. That is, how effectively the implemented training programmes will coordinate all phases of performance evaluation and employee education.
- Organize an effective training method and all the details of the training programmes.
- Provide strategies for assessing the net result of the training programmes.
There are several factors identified which affect the effectiveness of the industry performance. According to James T. Wassell, the main reason that affects the effectiveness of the industry performance is the workplace violence. “A Training health care worker to better cope with violent patients and to avoid injury is becoming standard practice, but research is needed to identify specific aspects of training and patient management programs that are most effective” (James 1991, p.1049). By identifying the various problems in the health care industry, it is necessary to conduct various surveys which will help analyze the type of risk that they face during the performance. It is important to identify the risk associated with UK health care industry, because they are the main economic part of a country. There are several training programs adopted in the health care industry depending upon the goal and responsibilities of the organization.
To improve the working condition of health care industry and its survival, it is necessary to adopt various latest methods to attract HR people of the other industries. More advanced marketing tools are to be used to increase their performance level. The development of the employees benefits both the organisation and employees themselves. Motivation helps to maintain the sincere cooperation of the workers. When the employees are motivated by providing various incentives and training they does not hesitate to work hard for the organisation. Workers cooperation is essential for the progress of the organisation. ”Health care industry has generally lagged behind other industries in securing high-performance individuals and marketing personnel; however, with the development of health maintenance organizations, this trend is changing” (Siddiqui and Kleiner 1998, p.143). Giving proper training will reduce regular working delays in the industry. To improve the skills of the employees the Fulcrum Methods curriculum and training program is employed in many of the health care industry.
“The Fulcrum Methods curriculum and training program can also be used directly by healthcare organizations, consulting service organizations, and software or technology vendors to advance the healthcare IT skills and capabilities of their workforce” (Fulcrum methods provides training programs for healthcare IT workforce 2010). Effective training programmes encourage employees and organizations to deliver maximum output. It also helps bring awareness among the employees of the health care industry about the issues affecting the industry and also provide various alternative solutions for avoiding risks.
Lack of perfect training of the employees is a factor which adversely affects their performance. Low performance level of the employee sometimes affects the safety of the employees. Lack of knowledge in the usage of health care tools may also cause harmful effect in the performance. Also, lack of training affects the employee retention which affects the overall performance of the industry. The lack of training affects the employee performance because they do not get any information regarding the treatment options and diseases. Proper training is essential for analysing the competition status of health care business in the market. Quality oriented training is essential for proper working of the health care industry. ”An ideal health care system would encourage close working relationship between local providers (for most routine and emergency services and follow –up care)and a wide array of leading providers (for definitive diagnoses, treatment strategies, and complex procedures in certain areas)” (Porter and Teisberg 2004, p.7).
So, to perform as an ideal health care system, proper training is necessary for the employees of the organization to produce maximum output. To overcome all the problems because of lack of training should be identified by means of proper research and various alternate solutions are to be found out for high level performance of the health care industry in UK. Training is essential for every organization for motivating the employees to produce maximum output and also to bring positive attitude among the employees which is always good for improving the performance of the industry. It also helps identify the change in the consumer behaviour and further modifications are done after the analysis of the change in consumer trends. In addition to that, proper training helps avoid various risks in the industry. Managing risk is the key strategy of every business. Companies spend a huge amount of money to recover and protect themselves from risks and threats. Risk management can help the company save its work, reputation and finance as well. Better training could lead the company in accurate and revenue generating recruitment of new staff while retaining the old customer base, especially in the competitive marketplace. Employee management becomes easier and the management becomes close to the people to listen to their needs and requirements appropriately. Also, effective training programmes in the UK health care industry increase the responsibility among the organizations, consumers, and employees.
Methodology
Methodological approach
Methodology is a collection of methods which is used for the study of a particular topic for research. “Methodology can properly refer to the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge” (Farlex 2010). This study was done to identify the effectiveness of Training in Housing 21Health Care Organizations in the United Kingdom. Methodology is done to examine and compare the different factors that are used to perform the research more efficiently. Usually, research is a collection and analysis of information for a particular project management. This methodological approach facilitates to collect information for the purpose of getting knowledge about a particular topic. The methodologies and other aspects related to this method basically concern with the subject matter and need of the research. There consist of set of rules and procedures in the methodological approach, such as data collection, validity and reliability and so on. This method is widely used in every field for the research purpose in order to get excellent output or information. This approach boosts the efficiency of the task in the research and enables the researcher to perform his task in successful way.
Research strategy and data collection methods
Research strategy refers the entire structure and task for the research. “Research strategy is a plan of action that gives direction to your efforts, enabling you to conduct research systematically rather than haphazardly” (Developing a library research strategy 2005). Research strategy includes some policy in order to conduct the research in successful manner. These policies illustrate how the research has to be performed to achieve the desired objective. Till the completion of the research, it has to follow the pre-prepared research strategies; then only one gets the desired result of a particular research. It is a conceptual structure which represents what the researcher would do in future to continue the research by following proper procedures and means. Normally, a research is done to develop and modify a project, and moreover, to find the solution for a problem or determining new ideas. Therefore, the research has to be performed in accurate and efficient way; for that the researcher has to follow the research strategies in appropriate manner. Otherwise, it is a great loss for them. If the researchers follow the research strategies while doing a research, they can complete their task at correct time and at allotted budget.
Data collection methods
“Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results” (Data collection method n.d.). There are various methods for the collection of data like survey, questionnaires, face to face meeting, interview etc. Among these different data collection methods, the most appropriate methods are selected while conducting a research in housing 21. There are qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. For this thesis, both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods are used. Qualitative research requires case studies, inspection, informal interviews, application of secondary data and examination. Quantitative research needs content analysis, testing, use of secondary data and investigations which can be based on questionnaires or prepared interviews. In this research the methodologies used are questionnaires and survey. The survey is carried out among all the staffs and managers of this health care centre. This facilitates to understand the condition of housing 21. The questionnaires are also used which helped to get more truthful data regarding the issues in these centre. This data aids for the further decisions to be taken for the current issue in housing 21 in UK that is related to the effectiveness of training of the staff.
Summary table
Credibility of the research, concepts of validity, reliability and generalisability
Credibility of research means ensuring the quality of the research, that is, the collected information is accurate and relevant. Therefore, qualitative investigation is to be done for getting excellent information. “Credibility theory is a set of quantitative methods that allows an insurer to adjust future premiums based on past experience” (Deeniz 2009). Three kinds of investigations are conducted for improving the trustworthiness of qualitative investigation of data. “Rigorous techniques and methods for gathering and analyzing qualitative data, including attention to validity, reliability, and triangulation; the credibility, competence, and perceived trustworthiness of the qualitative researcher” (Patton 1999, p.1). The credibility of quantitative research is determined by conducting a quantitative study. If the quantitative research is engaged with integrity, the validity of the research is ensured. In order to ensure that the data in the literature review is correct and applicable, it is compared with the sources of the qualitative research, such as various books and website. Reliability means to make certain that the data collection methods give a reliable result and the reliability of the data collection methods are ensured if the results of various data collection methods are same. Triangulated questions are included in the questionnaires and survey in order to ensure the validity of the data collected from the questionnaires and survey are accurate.
Ethical issues
Several ethical issues may arise while conducting a research. Lack of adequate data can be an important issue after the research.
From whom data has to be collected may not cooperate with the research people. This will cause a problem to the research. For this the higher authorities of Housing 21 must be made aware of the benefits of the research programs so that they will ask the healthcare workers to co-operate. The researchers must be made aware of the methods and risks that are involved in the process. They must be fully willing to participate in the process. If they are not made aware of the risks, sometimes they might withdraw from the work in the middle stage. Another issue will be the lack of communication between the researchers. This can be solved by appointing a leader for taking the decisions by communicating with the researchers. Also there may be a problem that the data obtained from different people are different. This will lead to confusion about which data is correct. This could be solved to some extent by taking the majority opinion.
Access and resource implication
Data access
The access of data in the field of healthcare training can be done by different methods. The data about healthcare training can be obtained by going through the records of Housing 21. The records may provide information regarding the types of training, how it is provided etc. Healthcare training may be provided by organizing classes in the organization. The healthcare workers can also provide adequate information regarding this matter. They may provide information about the training programs conducted in the organisation. The benefit of these programs for them can also be known from them. Negotiation with the healthcare workers will help in accessing the data needed for the research. This will enable in studying the views of these people on the healthcare training programs.
Resource implication
For studying about training in healthcare services, several resources can be suggested. The research can be done by interviews, questionnaire etc on the health workers of Nursing Home, Care Home, Hospital, GP, Care Agency etc. Here the data is collected from Housing 21. Sources that provide knowledge on the latest information in the field of healthcare should be referred. “The Health Care Training Handbook is a comprehensive tool kit that includes a wealth of information, illustrative clinical and non-clinical examples, tools, and skill building lessons specifically targeted for trainers working in today’s health care environment” (Wall and Wall 2000). This is an important resource that can be used for knowing about healthcare training practices. It provides all the information needed for providing good health care services. “Telemedicine promises new services to enhance the delivery of healthcare. Innovative services are likely to be ineffective or fail unless the staff involved adapt and develop new skills. However, evidence to inform the human resource considerations implicit in telemedicine is almost non-existent” (Gerrard and Maclean 1995).
Action plan
Reference
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