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Purpose – The chapter aims to understand what kind of policy approach has been more successful in facilitating the involvement of patients and the public in the design and provision of health-care services at the local level and the explanatory factors justifying the implementation outcome.Methodology – By applying Richard Matland's ambiguity/conflict policy implementation model, the chapter analyses the impact of a number of policies introduced after 1997 in the English National Health Service that targeted final users and the local population in decision-making processes.Findings – The evidence shows that policies emphasising the importance of context-specific contingencies can be more effectively implemented when room for interpretation and discretion in selecting the appropriate means for involvement is given. In this way, the overall aims/purposes of health policies can be locally reshaped by allowing the adoption of flexible strategies within the implementation process.Practical implications – A strong leadership at the top of public sector organisations and, in particular, from the board of directors is needed to steer and facilitate a consensus oriented outcome in organisational decision-making processes that aim to incorporate the views and opinions of patients and the public.Social implications – Local initiatives in increasing participation, for specific purposes, are bound to be more successful than a general initiative, expecting comparatively uniform implementation.

The purpose of this study is to explore gaps between policy and practice in relation to the involvement of voluntary and community sector (VCS) members in local strategic partnerships (LSPs), using the example of inequalities in health.

Documentary analysis; semi‐structured interviews with VCS representatives from a sample of LSPs in one region of England; semi‐structured interviews with key researchers and national stakeholders.

National policy imperatives to expand the role of the VCS in decision‐making and to make LSPs an important avenue for addressing inequalities in health are not always translated into practice. VCS members are at the sharp end of tensions in LSPs between thematic and neighbourhood approaches, local views and strategic priorities and between democratic and participatory approaches to decision‐making. Effective engagement in addressing inequalities in health requires a strategic approach across the LSP which is reflected in the priorities of each of the constituent partnerships.

This is a snapshot of LSPs at one point in time and local interviews are restricted to one region of England.

The article illustrates good practice and barriers to VCS involvement in addressing inequalities in health through LSPs. This is relevant to a range of public health partnerships.

The views of VCS members on addressing inequalities in health through LSPs have not previously been researched, despite their key role. Lessons are relevant for multi‐agency strategic partnerships with a public health focus in England and internationally.

This book was written across a period of intense turmoil and change in higher education in Australia and England. We are deeply unsettled by these changes and wish to open up the discussion about what it means to be an academic and engage in academic work in the 21st century. Accordingly, each of the authors has nominated a theme or lens through which to examine the changes, tensions and uncertainties that have erupted in higher education. Thus, we offer this book as a constellation of ideas that traverse a number of aspects of our work and identities as academics. The overlap between these ideas is deliberate so that the multiple and complex challenges that underpin the higher education landscape can be examined.

This chapter delves into the evolving identity of professionals within the field of research management and administration (RMA), examining the shifts in their roles and expectations in the changing landscape in higher education. After the introductory section, Section 2 offers a conceptual framework that emphasises identity as a dynamic process rather than a static concept. This framework sheds light on the changing roles and expectations that define the RMA profession. In Section 3, we explore the contextual backdrop of shifting expectations surrounding RMA roles while stressing the importance of recognizing the multiplicity of identities to comprehend the nuances of the RMA profession. Section 4 analyzes empirical data and explore the diverse pathways that lead individuals into the RMA profession. We uncover that a notable proportion of RMAs possess scientific training and research experience and highlight the complexities surrounding the identity of RMAs with doctoral training (DRMAs). Lastly, Section 5 discusses key observations that yield valuable insights for future research on the evolving professional identity of RMAs. We emphasise that, through self-exploration and introspection, practitioners in the field can contribute to a deeper understanding of their roles and actively shape their professional identity.

This chapter examines why managed clinical networks are an appropriate approach to sustainable healthcare, and discusses the conditions for the effectiveness of these multi-stakeholder, clinician-led modes of organizing. It describes the development of a national clinical network to achieve system-wide improvement in the provision of publicly funded cardiac surgery services in New Zealand, and the subsequent evolution of a broader network encompassing the whole cardiac care patient pathway.

The case study of the two cardiac clinical networks focuses on the emergence and evolution of the networks over a four-year period from 2009. Data were collected from interviews with key stakeholders of both networks and from internal and published documentary evidence. Analysis of the case study is informed by network theory and prior studies of managed clinical networks.

Progress made towards the achievement of the goals of the initial cardiac surgery network encouraged a broadening of focus to the entire cardiac care pathway and the establishment of the national cardiac network. An important benefit has been the learning and increase in understanding among the different stakeholders involved. Both clinical networks have demonstrated the value of clinician engagement and leadership in improving the delivery of health services, and serve as a best practice model for the development of further clinical networks for health services that require a national population base.

The case study analysis of the two cardiac clinical networks identifies five mutually reinforcing themes that underpin network effectiveness: network structure, management and governance, and internal and external legitimation. These themes encompass a number of factors suggestive of successful managed clinical networks, and offer insights into the use of such networks in organizing for sustainable healthcare.

Current TM literature shows a lack of empirical research on the actual implementation of TM as a mediating step in the TM process, and on the role of the line managers in that stage. Bos, Thunnissen and Pardoen look into this ‘black box’ of TM and focus in their study on the role of line managers in the actual implementation of TM. In particular, the impact of the line manager’s leadership style on employee reactions to TM is investigated, as well as the constraints in the line manager’s role in executing TM. Their exploratory, quantitative study on the role of the line manager demonstrates that the line manager can support employees in deploying and developing their talents, and when they do so employees feel more empowered and committed to the job. Most line managers are willing to support their employees in developing and utilizing their talents, and that they think they have the capability of doing. However, the study shows that in many cases the line manager overestimates his/her actions regarding the mobilization of employee’s talents, and employees often have different perceptions of the line manager’s behaviour to TM than the line manager him/herself. The bigger the gap in perceptions, the more it has a negative effect on employees’ cognitive and affective reactions to TM. The authors call for more research on the role of the line manager in TM, and in particular on this gap in perceptions.

This monograph contains abstracts from the 2005 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, 6‐7th September 2005

This paper aims to explore the themes of professionalism and managerialism in how academics in England talk about their work in universities today. The aim is to examine how academics represent their work and to identify what kind of identifications they make in the process. In doing so, it is hoped to shed some light on how academics can position themselves in relation to managerialism in the English academy, while also exploring the value of a particular methodological approach to doing so.

The paper employs Fairclough's approach to textual analysis in analysing extracts from interview data as part of a critical discourse analysis of the work of academics in universities in England at a particular time.

The paper suggests that individual academics in middle ranking positions do not identify in a straightforward way either with managerialism or professionalism. Instead they perform ambiguous, ambivalent, complex and fluid positionings of the self in relation to the themes of managerialism and professionalism.

The paper demonstrates that the use of Fairclough's approach to textual analysis can provide a rich picture of individual social positionings from relatively short extracts of interview data.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and proposal of a values evidence-based model of clinical supervision (CS) for the implementation by nursing staff (registered and non-registered nurses) within a forensic intellectual disability service.

This is a conceptual and technical paper providing a descriptive account for a service provision with nursing staff.

The paper does not present any research findings but does demonstrate a novel and innovative approach to the conceptualisation and implementation of CS.

The paper examines the dominant concepts that shape existing thinking around CS and suggests a new interpretation that involves greater pragmatism through a values evidence-based approach.