Abstract
[This is an excerpt.] The publication of this report coincides with a period of immense change for the Irish health care system. All around we see evidence of the pressures that are having a profound impact on the way in which health care is delivered, and the quality, safety and efficiency of that health care. Changing population demographics, increasing levels of demand for service provision, significant budgetary constraints, improving regulatory systems for quality and safety and the integration and re-organisation of the primary and community care and acute hospital systems are just some of the forces driving change in the health care system in Ireland. Ultimately, it is the management, staff and unions working in the health care system that must respond to the pressures for change. How this response is managed, and whether it is done collaboratively or confrontationally, will have a major impact on the quality and depth of the change and its implications for service users. The evidence strongly suggests that management, staff and trade unions achieve better outcomes – including patient care outcomes – when working collaboratively than when working exclusively through models rooted in traditional industrial relations or conventional approaches to management and work organisation. [To read more, click View Resource.]
This resource is found in our Actionable Strategies for Health Organizations: Establishing Commitment & Shared Governance (Shared Governance).
