Pre-crisis damage containment and leadership policy in health services

Abstract

Purpose

Crisis-prone organizations are reactive and unprepared, and are characterized by deficiencies in damage containment mechanisms (DCMs), which are tools and processes intended to prevent and/or manage crises. In the literature, DCMs are usually studied piecemeal and have not been studied in health organizations in a broader organizational context. Thus, this study aims to identify the use of DCMs and the frequency with which they are inspected, maintained and reviewed for design flaws.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were obtained by questionnaire from decision-making executives in hospitals, medical centers, aged care, pharmacies, dental clinics and practices in physiotherapy, chiropractic and podiatry.

Findings

Heavy reliance was placed on planning and technological DCMs while human and social methods were typically not considered. Organizations considered limited crisis types and there was a disconnect between the types of DCMs and the crises they targeted. Over half the organizations reviewed DCMs annually or more frequently. Backup DCMs mostly consisted of on-call staff and first responders with some auxiliary communications systems. Interviewees stated that these were designed to prevent financial, equipment breakdown, human resource and occupational safety crises.

Originality/value

Most organizations had inadequate DCMs due to a lack of top-down support, planning and foresight. Furthermore, these health organizations demonstrated a lack of understanding of what DCMs are and how they function. The conclusion is that most of the health organizations surveyed are crisis-prone and health leaders need to put more effort into looking broadly at DCMs to improve organizational preparedness.

Citation

V. Canyon, D. (2013), "Pre-crisis damage containment and leadership policy in health services", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 283-293. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-04-2012-0010