scholarly journals Towards a framework for enhancing the performance of NHS boards: a synthesis of the evidence about board governance, board effectiveness and board development

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Chambers ◽  
G Harvey ◽  
R Mannion ◽  
J Bond ◽  
J Marshall

AbstractBackgroundThere is a need to reduce the variation in organisational performance across the NHS for which boards hold ultimate responsibility. By exploring how boards can add value, we hope that this research will benefit patients and improve service efficiency and effectiveness.ObjectivesWe know that there are knowledge gaps in relation to the composition and characteristics of effective boards in the NHS, their impact and the range of tools and techniques available for developing effective boards. This realist synthesis study, therefore, aims to add to existing knowledge by (1) providing a theoretical contribution to board governance and relating it to the NHS context, (2) offering fresh insights into effective board composition, structures, processes and behaviours in the NHS, (3) furthering an understanding of how NHS boards can affect organisational performance and (4) summarising and analysing the range of board assessment tools and development interventions available for the NHS.MethodThe study adopted a realist approach to an evidence synthesis of a diffuse literature. In line with realist review principles, we tested, honed and refined the research questions and emerging findings with a joint expert advisory and stakeholder group of 23 people. A search was conducted across relevant library and external sources including ABI/INFORM® (ProQuest, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), SciVerse® ScienceDirect® (Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Social Science Research Network, from 1968 to 2011. A total of 618 general articles, 209 health-care-related articles, 252 textbooks and 54 reports were identified.ResultsFrameworks that have developed from theory and from practice were categorised into the three elements of composition (board structure), focus (what the board does) and dynamics (the behavioural dimension), and the potential conjunction between board theories and practices was explored. We found some important distinguishing characteristics in the public, non-profit and health-care sectors. In relation to the impact of boards on organisational performance, the importance of contingency factors was highlighted and there is positive empirical support for the role of physicians on the board. Other than self-reports, we could not find any significant studies on the impact of board development on board effectiveness.LimitationsThe study is dependent on the diverse nature of the sources of evidence and the relative infancy of the realist synthesis method. The literature is fragmented, equivocal and, at times, contradictory. We believe, nevertheless, that the study offers insights in terms of developing middle-range theories for effective health-care boards.ConclusionsWe found no simple theory about how boards should operate. The use of certain models for boards may be more appropriate than others, depending on what the priority is in terms of organisation outcome. We have identified some important distinguishing characteristics in the public and non-profit sectors. On the whole, evidence lends some further support for a theory about the dynamics of an effective board in relation to high challenge, high trust and high engagement, modified in the light of our developing understanding about the linkages between different contexts and desired outcomes. We identified five areas in which board development approaches should be more focused. We suggest three main areas for further research: the composition of NHS boards, the conditions under which health-care boards are able to exert a sustained focus on clinical quality and an evaluation of the impact of board development activities on organisational performance.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Author(s):  
Joia S. Mukherjee

This chapter outlines the historical roots of health inequities. It focuses on the African continent, where life expectancy is the shortest and health systems are weakest. The chapter describes the impoverishment of countries by colonial powers, the development of the global human rights framework in the post-World War II era, the impact of the Cold War on African liberation struggles, and the challenges faced by newly liberated African governments to deliver health care through the public sector. The influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s neoliberal economic policies is also discussed. The chapter highlights the shift from the aspiration of “health for all” voiced at the Alma Ata Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, to the more narrowly defined “selective primary health care.” Finally, the chapter explains the challenges inherent in financing health in impoverished countries and how user fees became standard practice.


2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Levin ◽  
Eric N. Gebbie ◽  
Kristine Qureshi

The federal pandemic influenza plan predicts that 30% of the population could be infected. The impact of this pandemic would quickly overwhelm the public health and health-care delivery systems in the U.S. and throughout the world. Surge capacity for staffing, availability of drugs and supplies, and alternate means to provide care must be included in detailed plans that are tested and drilled ahead of time. Accurate information on the disease must be made available to health-care staff and the public to reduce fear. Spokespersons must provide clear, consistent messages about the disease, including actions to be taken to contain its spread and treat the afflicted. Home care will be especially important, as hospitals will be quickly overwhelmed. Staff must be prepared ahead of time to assure their ability and willingness to report to work, and public health must plan ahead to adequately confront ethical issues that will arise concerning the availability of treatment resources. The entire community must work together to meet the challenges posed by an epidemic. Identification and resolution of these challenges and issues are essential to achieve adequate public health preparedness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134
Author(s):  
Chiraz Ben Ali ◽  
Frédéric Teulon

This study examines the impact of board governance mechanisms on the pay of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) using a sample of major French listed companies for the 2009–2011 period. The results show that CEO pay is negatively associated with the presence of a family CEO and positively associated with board size, busy directors, board meetings, and compensation committee independence. We provide further evidence that CEO compensation increases with firm size, and both present and past performance. Our study casts doubt on the effectiveness of formal board attributes in constraining CEO compensation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 142-165
Author(s):  
Tat'yana Yu. DRUZHILOVSKAYA

Subject. This article discusses the problems of accounting for non-financial tangible assets associated with the introduction of new FSBU (Russian Federal Accounting Standards) for commercial organizations and non-profit organizations outside the public sector. Objectives. The article aims to study and systematize the impact of the new FSBU regulations on the accounting for non-financial tangible assets, justify the convergence of this accounting with IFRS regulations, identify problems, and justify the prospects for their solution. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of critical analysis, synthesis, comparison, observation, and the analogy approach. Results. The article describes the impact of the adoption of the new FSBU on the accounting for non-financial tangible assets, such as inventories, fixed assets, investment real estate, biological assets. It identifies the degree to which this accounting is linked to IFRS regulations, as well as the problems associated with the recognition, evaluation and reflection in the reporting of non-financial tangible assets in the reporting of Russian organizations as a result of the introduction of the new FSBU. The article shows the prospects for solving the problematic aspects of accounting for non-financial tangible assets of Russian organizations. Conclusions and Relevance. The introduction of the new FSBU will help significantly bring the accounting for non-financial tangible assets to IFRS requirements. The introduction of the new FSBU does not eliminate all differences from IFRS requirements in accounting for and reporting of non-financial tangible assets of Russian organizations. Solving the problematic aspects of the introduction of regulations of the new FSBU will contribute to the prospects for further reform of the Russian accounting. The results obtained have both applied and theoretical applications in the field of financial accounting.


Utafiti ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-110
Author(s):  
Kiagho Kilonzo

Abstract The twentieth century saw a huge increase worldwide in the presence of the arts in organisations and institutions involved in healthcare activities, including public health care research conducting in various countries. This article shows the impact of using art to engage literate and non-literate people in the pro-active translation of research outcomes into their own cultural practices and their personal decisions affecting their health status. The study demonstrates that art can be of use changing social behaviour and therefore to improve public health records in statistically significant ways. This work also demonstrates that the term ‘art’ refers to more than a means of entertainment and passive appreciation of aesthetics; the effectiveness of art is tangible and its impact is measurable as a mode of education, and as providing a deeply needed instructive incentive for hygienic and sanitation transformation.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. e0124791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Razzouk ◽  
Monica Kayo ◽  
Aglaé Sousa ◽  
Guilherme Gregorio ◽  
Hugo Cogo-Moreira ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Cynthia Schweer Rayner ◽  
Camilla Thorogood ◽  
Francois Bonnici

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are to understand the definition of public value and the strategic drivers behind public value creation, understand the nature of social innovation in the public sector, identify the critical opportunities and challenges involved in sustaining innovation in the public sector and identify the role that non-profit organizations can play in supporting and sustaining social innovation. Case overview/synopsis This case puts participants in the shoes of a global health innovator’s leadership team as the organization approaches a funding crisis. The organization, VillageReach, is on a quest to expand across the public health system of Mozambique and experiences a funding dilemma. The case reveals the challenges of working with governments to achieve large-scale, systemic change. It explores the conundrum of using international donor funding to embed new practices in government service delivery. Ultimately, it asks participants to choose between the pursuit of new, small-scale innovative projects and the large-scale rollout of a national programme. Complexity academic level This teaching case is written for courses focused on social entrepreneurship, social innovation and social change. It can also be used in courses focused on non-profit management and public sector innovation. Specifically, the teaching case is suitable for two audiences: social enterprise and non-profit managers focused on strategy, development and operations (the case focuses on an enterprise that relies primarily on donor funding) and health-care managers and administrators. Generally, the case is suitable for undergraduates in their final year of study as well as graduate-level business and public administration courses, including MBA, MPH, MPA, EMBA and Executive Education courses. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.


Ekonomia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Rafał Krywienia

The idea of the e-health project assumes the public use of effective information and communication technology systems, as well as the participation of patients and medical staff in the treatment process. The article’s aim is the analysis of the impact of the e-health project on the functioning of the Polish healthcare system which is currently implemented as part of the digitization of health care. It has been hypothesized that the implemented e-health project has been positively received by Polish society. In order to verify this, a survey was conducted on a sample of 305 respondents, including patients, doctors and people who had never had contact with e-health. The purpose of the survey was to recognize the attitudes, opinions and experience of beneficiaries of e-health regarding the functioning of the project in question. The article also contains secondary research presenting the current scientific achievements in the field of e-health.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Justus Asasira ◽  
Frank Ahimbisibwe

Background: Uganda’s government has embraced private provision of social services including health care. The involvement of private providers is an indicator that the public facilities are not sufficient enough to meet the high demands of the ever-increasing population. This has been done through partnership arrangements. This paper discusses the impact of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in health care outcomes of the local population and opportunities for improving health outcomes, challenges facing private providers in a low income setting.Methodology: Data were collected using qualitative methods in January 2017 through interview (using semi-structured questions) at Ruharo Mission Hospital (RMH) administration, health workers, district health office and used a structured questionnaire for patients/clients. This was a nascent study, with a sample size of 22 respondents. The hospital has three departments; Organized Useful Rehabilitation Services (OURS), General Medical Services (GMS) and Eye Department (ED). All the departments of the hospital were represented in this study.Results: The hospital is a Church of Uganda project and runs a budget of 5 billion shillings ($ 1,351,351.4) annually, had multiple sources of funding including PHC funding annually and that, health services were delivered adequately to clients. Much as some services were accessed at no costs, other services like eye treatment were found expensive on the side of clients. The hospital’s hybrid mode of delivering health services through outreaches and facility-based services was cherished, however it had no ambulance and relied only on a hospital van.Conclusions and Recommendations: Our study concluded that if private providers are supported under the partnership arrangement, they can adequately deliver services to the clients and decongest the public facilities. We recommend that the government devote funds to support the hospital through employing more sub-seconded staff, procuring medicines, and ambulances to enable it to subsidize services especially eye treatment and other services not supported under the partnership.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document