Improving Health Through Human Resources Management

The crucial role people management plays in the delivery of improvements and positive outcomes for patients in the NHS is to be investigated in a new 250,000 research project.

The project, Improving Health Through HRM is an initiative commissioned jointly by the Department of Health, the Association of Healthcare Human Resources Management (AHHRM) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. It seeks to further understanding of how HR practices influence the quality of healthcare. It will review existing research findings and undertake new case studies in the NHS.

Peter King, AHHRM spokesperson, said:
Both HR practitioners and line managers are looking for practical tools that will help them achieve better outcomes for staff and patients. This research will help us focus on best practice, and ensure that healthcare professionals are being managed in ways that have been shown to maximise benefits to patients and staff’.

Mike Emmott, Employee Relations Adviser at the CIPD, said:
A substantial body of CIPD research has demonstrated the powerful links between progressive people management practices and business performance. In the NHS this translates into outcomes that can make the difference between life and death.

Through this project we are taking the lead in translating our research findings into messages that managers in the NHS can use in their day-to-day work. Nowhere is this task more urgent than in healthcare, where the Government is committed to bringing about a significant improvement in standards of patient care.

The research will be undertaken by a team based at the University of Manchester, led by Dr Pauline Hyde and including Professors Mick Marchington and Paul Sparrow, who have a long history of excellent teaching and research. Further research projects are likely to be undertaken by other organisations that were short-listed for this research.

The research will be managed by the CIPD on behalf of the sponsors. The research will be undertaken in two phases, the first concentrating on interpreting what existing research means for HR practice. This phase will last approximately twelve months. Phase two will concentrate on primary research within the NHS to identify how HR practices really make a difference in outcomes for organisations, staff and patients.

A Steering Group is being set up which will include HR practitioners. A significant part of the work will be to communicate findings to the wider NHS community and involve HR practitioners in the research at all stages.