Search

The effectiveness of the prevention through design (PtD) approach to the management of health and safety (H&S) risks on construction sites is widely acknowledged. This approach underlies the construction, design, and management (CDM) Regulations in the United Kingdom that provide for a Principal Designer (PD) role with a statutory duty to plan, manage, and monitor the preconstruction phase of projects and to coordinate matters of H&S during that phase. Although there is a growing body of research literature on PtD practice, there is a gap in the general issue of the practical implementation of the CDM Regulations in general and the performance of the PD in particular. The purpose of this paper is to report research undertaken with the aim of plugging this gap. The part examined concerns the challenges that beset the performance of the PD role and the drivers behind such barriers. A qualitative research design was adopted using, for data collection, 14 focus group discussion sessions involving 89 participants with direct experience of practical implementation of the regulations. The research uncovered three broad categories of barriers to the performance of the PD role: inadequacies in the client's general approach to its duties; supply chain fragmentation and insurance challenges; and performance-related challenges stemming from limitations in PD technical competence and interpersonal skills. The research is the first study focused on the H&S risk management processes and the organizational and operational barriers to effective management and coordination of H&S matters by PDs. The research outcomes are of obvious relevance to H&S management practice in not only the United Kingdom but also European Union countries and other countries with similar regulations. As management of design H&S risks at the preconstruction stage is an inherent feature of the PtD concept, they could also inform PtD practice with respect to coordination of the work of the different design specialisms involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to conduct practical analysis inside an organisation operating within the UK to assess what factors may be decreasing motivation for information technology project managers collaborating with geographically dispersed team members from different national cultures. Design/methodology/approach: The topic is analysed through the author's knowledge and engagement with the organisation, and by connecting related literature to identify cause and effect. Findings: Methods for improving project manager motivation are suggested through staff training, workshops, goal-setting theory and assignments abroad. This paper also makes a recommendation for project manager job redesign through the utilisation of the job characteristics model. Originality/value: This paper highlights key considerations for HR professionals and Senior Management in terms of work design, coaching and policy implementation, and provides a redesigned job blueprint that will be beneficial for other organisations using project managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the role of the internal design department and its collaboration with construction manager and the client during the design process by the UK construction company Laing O'Rourke (LOR). The results are as follows: (1) In the early stages of design, personnel from architectural design in LOR works flexibly with the client to set the design conditions. The structural/facilities designers and construction teams are involved in the design process to clarify the cost and construction schedule; (2) The design team coordinates with the client, architect, and construction team on issues that arise during the design process; (3) The initial design work is carried out collaboratively free of charge; (4) The construction team signs Pre‐Construction Service Agreement (PCSA) with the client and carries out preconstruction contract; (5) The design specifications are gradually clarified and the construction contract is concluded in stages; (6) The client and construction company works together with shared objectives and shared necessary information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do professionals respond when they are required to conduct work that does not match with their identity? We investigated this situation in an English public services organization where a major work redesign initiative required professionals to engage in new tasks that they did not want to do. Based on our findings, we develop a process model of professional identity restructuring that includes the following four stages: (1) resisting identity change and mourning the loss of previous work, (2) conserving professional identity and avoiding the new work, (3) parking professional identity and learning the new work, and (4) retrieving and modifying professional identity and affirming the new work. Our model explicates the dynamics between professional work and professional identity, showing how requirements for new professional work can lead to a new professional identity. We also contribute to the literature by showing how parking one's professional identity facilitates the creation of liminal space that allows professional identity restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task framework has focused on employee survey data to analyze how computer use changes the content of jobs. In this article, we add another factor of work design, namely trade union presence. Using data from the UK Skills and Employment Surveys for the period 1997–2012, we find that union presence is associated with more Tayloristic jobs involving less autonomy, lower relevance of problem solving, and more control. In line with theory, the union effect moves in the opposite direction to the effect of computer use. The article has two important general implications. First, the Tayloristic/holistic distinction is an instructive dichotomy to evaluate changes in work design. Second, the presence of unions may induce managers to design jobs in Tayloristic ways in order to curb union bargaining power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Falling retention in UK general practice is a well-described problem but there has been little previous research into its underlying causes. Poor psychosocial work conditions may help explain falling workforce morale and early retirement from the profession. Aims To explore the impact upon morale and retirement decisions of changes in psychosocial aspects of UK general practice over the course of a career. Methods Biographical narrative interviewing method (BNIM) was used to obtain and analyse career narratives of 12 London general practitioners (GPs), aged 55–65, half of whom had retired. Findings were theorized using the Job Demands-Control-Support (JDCS) model. Results A spontaneous, consistent theme was evident across all 12 interviews: changes in the psychosocial work environment had contributed to a steady decline in morale. Sequential, multilayered reductions in autonomy were the most commonly cited causes for reduced enthusiasm. Increasing demands in the form of both a rising workload as well as a complaints culture drained energy and morale. The GPs described increasingly fragmented teams and therefore reduced social support for the role. Nonetheless, retirement decisions were not straightforward, provoking complex emotions. Conclusions The combination of increasing demands with reduced autonomy puts practitioners under intense strain, diminishing the satisfaction they derive from their work and affecting retirement decisions. The Job Demands-Control-Support (JDCS) model is an empirically tested model that could be used to inform improved work design in general practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomy of structures of work organizations presented is based on three previously established empirical dimensions: structuring of activities, concentration of authority, and line control of workflow. On the basis of a sample of 52 organizations in the English Midlands, clusters of organizations on these three dimensions are examined and a sevenfold classification of organization structures is developed. These are identified as full bureaucracy, nascent full bureaucracy, workflow bureaucracy, nascent workflow bureaucracy, preworkflow bureaucracy, personnel bureaucracy, and implicitly structured organizations, their characteristic contextual features as to size, technology, dependence on other organizations, and ownership are demonstrated, and a possible developmental sequence is suggested. The results indicate that the concept of a single bureaucratic type is no longer useful, since bureaucracy takes different forms in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the future lung cancer screening could involve biomarker tools, including biomarker blood tests. The blood for these tests could be collected at home using an at home sample collection kit. Research has shown those at risk of developing lung cancer (aged 55+, high deprivation, ever-smokers) worry about using the kits and "getting it wrong". An instructional video could alleviate this worry but to be effective this video must be relatable and acceptable. A three phased detailed design process working with those most likely to be at risk from lung cancer, to ensure the video worked for them. Phase 1: Development, two consecutive surveys, exploring views on using the kits and existing instructional videos (n=37). Phase 2: Production, two online focus groups, exploring the style, content, and narrative of the video (n=13). Phase 3: Evaluation, a face-face focus group evaluating the acceptability of the video, selecting a relatable voiceover and identifying any necessary edits before dissemination (n=6). Phase 1 found issues getting enough blood and getting the blood in the tube, as well as a preference for sound in instruction videos and real people demonstrating the task. Phase 2 identified a need for reassurance and motivation, as well as a relatable actor and setting. It had to be "someone like me" demonstrating the process. Analysis of Phase 2 built a detailed storyboard and narrative, through an iterative process, informing video production. Phase 3 found the video was not only acceptable, relatable, and reassuring but for many would be vital to ensure effective use of the kit. Working in a collaborative manner with future users of the kits was key to this process and has led to the development of an acceptable and relatable instructional video, that should increase successful use of the kits through effective communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the 2015 and 2016 Great Britain National Health service (NHS) England New Care Models Programme which focuses on Integrated Case Management (ICM); development of enhanced services within a community setting; and developing clinical leadership. It mentions that ICM is comprised of community nursing, adult social care, and social prescribing.

Since July 2015 Macmillan breast care nurses (BCNs) at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, have specialised in the care of patients with secondary breast cancer. The service had previously managed patients with primary and secondary breast cancer, but had become unsustainable due to staffing levels and increasing numbers of patients. This article describes how the Christie Macmillan BCNs changed the focus and delivery of their service. It examines the literature on the urgent needs of patients with secondary breast cancer, outlines the background to, and rationale for the new service, describes how patients who are receiving primary chemotherapy are signposted to other services for support, and describes the redesign and development process of the new service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency departments (EDs) in the UK are facing unprecedented increases in attendance, and the ability to safely assess, diagnose, treat, refer or discharge patients is a national challenge. This article discusses one component of a comprehensive ED strategy created to address serious concerns identified by regulators and develop and improve services in the department at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Kent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the development of a nurse-led, telephone assessment service (TAS) in a UK cancer centre. The overall aim of the service was to reduce waiting times for patients with advanced malignant melanoma receiving infusions of the monoclonal antibody ipilimumab. The service was piloted over a period of one year and 56 assessments were conducted with 18 patients using a drug-specific proforma. There were eight omitted doses and no incidences of inaccurate assessment. Waiting times for treatment fell from an average of four hours to around 17 minutes, a reduction of 93%. The results of the pilot indicate that nurse-led TAS was a safe method of establishing selected patients' fitness for treatment. It also meant that on the day of treatment the face-to-face consultation with the ANP could focus on a more holistic, patient-centred discussion of concerns or questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a framework for understanding the processes through which volunteers' perception of relational job design influences their turnover intentions and time spent volunteering. Data sourced from an international aid and development agency in the United Kingdom ( n = 534 volunteers) show that volunteers who perceive that their roles are relationally designed (1) report lower intentions to leave their voluntary organization due to their commitment to the voluntary organization; and (2) dedicate more time to volunteering because they are more committed to the beneficiaries of their work. These findings make a theoretical contribution by uncovering two mechanisms that explain how the positive consequences of relational job design unfold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This paper reviews the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ literature, identifying and discussing the key characteristics that may contribute to successful implementation. Background It is 5 years since the official UK launch of the Productive Ward, and the Republic of Ireland commenced a phased, national implementation programme in 2011. Thus it is timely to reflect on the implementation lessons learned to date and described in the literature. Evaluation Using taxonomic mapping, this paper evaluates the current state of the literature that pertains to Productive Ward implementation experience; success factors; reports, and assessments. Key issues Seven common contextual characteristics were identified: robust and engaging communication; enabling and empowering roles; appropriate training; project planning and management; leadership; corporate/management engagement and support; and financial and human resource commitment. Conclusion The key characteristics identified have a direct impact on the implementation of the Productive Ward. The interplay between these key characteristics and how this interplay influences successful implementation of the Productive Ward warrants further research. Implications for nursing management Acknowledging and embracing the seven characteristics during implementation will positively improve the progress and success of the initiatives implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job crafting research has typically examined the antecedents and outcomes of individual-level crafting. In this study, we test a model of team-level or collaborative job crafting using data collected from 242 call centre teams and supervisors' ratings of team performance. The focus on teams with narrowly defined tasks and limited decision-making responsibility are unique features of this study. As predicted, collaborative crafting was found to relate positively to team efficacy, team control, and team interdependence, which in turn were found to relate positively to work engagement and team performance. The implications for theory development, future research, and practice are discussed. Practitioner points Even in a work environment characterized by low control, there remain opportunities for collaborative job crafting., Collaborative crafting is associated with higher employee engagement and team performance., Call centre supervisors and managers need to be aware of the potential benefits of collaborative crafting to ensure it is not inhibited by their behaviours (such as enhanced monitoring)., As positive consequences are associated with collaborative crafting, organizations should consider team training to enhance the collaborative crafting capability of teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined a potential mediator of the job design–performance relationship, namely employee engagement. Data were obtained via a survey of 283 employees in a consultancy and construction firm based in the UK and from supervisors' independent performance evaluations. The results reveal that employees who hold jobs that offer high levels of autonomy, task variety, task significance and feedback are more highly engaged and, in consequence, receive higher performance ratings from their supervisors, enact more organizational citizenship behaviours and engage in fewer deviant behaviours. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The NHS is challenged with making efficiency savings of £20 billion by 2015. In order to achieve a target of this magnitude, commissioners, clinicians and patients are required to work together to evaluate current service delivery and explore all options which have the potential to increase efficiency. This article describes the significant service redesign work undertaken in Rotherham by commissioners, clinicians and patients which has improved the way in which prescriptions are issued to patients requiring stoma products. The project has achieved impressive financial savings and, importantly, has improved patient experience. The project illustrates how new ways of working can significantly contribute to the £20 billion savings target, avoiding cuts in service provision while simultaneously improving the quality of service provided to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore how nurses are enrolled into and take part in programmes of efficiency and effectiveness. Using the philosophical theorizing about desire as a force or power, I focus specifically on what is understood as relations between desire and productivity in current Westernized health-care systems. Use is made of the idea from Spinoza that human emotions consist only of pleasure, pain, and desire as these act as a motive force. This is then linked with more contemporary work on the politics and discourses of desire. A report on the implementation of a productivity programme in the United Kingdom, The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care™, is explored for the ways its developers set about motivating nurses to endorse and enact the programme. In exploring the mechanics of desire in these processes, a view of desire as productive is promoted. Looking at desire as assembling actions, and an assemblage, moves the analysis to an interrogation of actions and practices used to enable and bring nurses to the process. Moreover, in working through the various modalities and operations of desire, the potential and limits of such projects are abstracted. Such potentials and limits are necessarily set by the intensification of power and desire in the capitalist economy, saturating areas of nursing, and health-care provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance work systems (HPWSs), a large firm model, have recently attracted interest within small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, institutional settings have been shown as an important determinant in the types of human resource management (HRM) practices adopted by employers. This paper progresses these topics through a comparative analysis of SMEs within Cote d'Opale/Nord Pas de Calais (French) and Kent (UK) regions. Clear divergence is evident in the nature of HPWS. Whilst UK SMEs are found to adopt a wider range of practices, French firms exhibit a higher degree of integration portrayed through a collective range of practices that engender employee participation and commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine whether employee learning strategies is a mechanism through which job design affects the employee innovation process. In particular, we test whether work-based learning strategies mediate the relationship between job design characteristics (job control and problem demand) and key components of the innovation process (idea generation, idea promotion, and idea implementation). Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were collected from a survey of 327 employees in a UK manufacturing organization. Findings: Structural equation modeling confirmed the mediating role of learning strategies in the relationship between job design and idea generation. The effects of job control on idea generation were mediated by work-based learning strategies and the effects of problem demand on idea generation were partially mediated by work-based learning strategies. Problem demand also had a direct relationship with idea generation and idea promotion. The findings provide support for the general idea that learning is a mechanism thorough which job design affects outcomes. Implications: The results of the study show practitioners that creating jobs with high control or high problem demand can help to promote the employee innovation process; and that this is partly due to the role that such jobs play in stimulating the use of learning strategies at work. Originality/Value: This article develops and tests a new theoretical model that explains how learning is a route through which job design influences employee innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a decision support tool for outpatient services at Hounslow Primary Care Trust (PCT). Topics covered include the set of specialties that are frequently visited in a sequence, the development of an Excel based spreadsheet tool to compute demands for the selected specialties and the possible shift of endocrinology and ophthalmology from the hospital environment to the polyclinic.

This study examined the impact of team-based working, team structure, and job design on employee well-being (in term of job satisfaction and work stress) in staff working in healthcare organizations in Hong Kong. Cross-cultural differences in the impact of job design, team structure, and employee well-being outcomes between United Kingdom and Hong Kong were also investigated. A group of 197 staff from two Hong Kong hospitals were compared to a sample of 270 UK staff working in National Health Service organizations in the UK. Results showed that team structure and job design were significantly associated with greater employee satisfaction and lower stress for Hong Kong healthcare staff. Culture was also found to moderate the impact of team structure and job design on employee well-being. The findings suggest that although team structure and job design contribute to employee well-being, they have differential impacts across cultures. This provides insights to policy planning on building team-based organizations in the healthcare sector involving multinational collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present qualitative research with higher education games design students to explore situated understandings of work and the negotiation of "work" and "non-work" boundaries. Design/methodology/approach – Situated understandings of work are examined through interviews and focus groups with games design students in the UK and contextualised with interviews with games industry professionals and attendance at industry careers events. The theoretical approach of "occupational devotion" is used to explore work practices and motivations, and "technological action" is then used to draw out the significance of relations with games technologies in this negotiation. Findings – The main finding concerns the continued significance of a fixed field of "work" for students intending to progress from education into "work". The importance of "work" was identified in how students positioned themselves (occupational devotion) and engaged with games technologies (technological action). This is contrasted with the emphasis on co-creative relations and broadbrush assertions of blurring boundaries between work and non-work. Research limitations/implications – A larger sample of students that ranged across different digital gaming disciplines within higher education (programming; art) would add breadth and further perspectives. Further research would connect student perceptions of the games industry, from attending events such as careers fairs, and the industry promotional discourses and representational strategies. A longitudinal study would be valuable for tracing changes in recruitment strategies and industry and education intersections. Practical implications – The paper provides insights into how higher education students engage with the games industry and articulates their personal development and employability attributes. Originality/value – This paper makes a case for research with students as a means to explore boundaries of "work" and "non-work". It questions the blurring of "work" and "non-work", and provides conceptual pointers, combined with empirical research, that indicate the continued purchase of fixed notions of "work" for workers-in-the-making. This is relevant for scholarly research into the sociology of work, higher education pedagogy, and industry-education relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream theories of career have been charged with a lack of ‘critical, multidisciplinary, gendered, and contextualised work’. This suggests that they would not readily be able to encompass the notion of the family-friendly career. This paper contextualises their shortcomings, notes some responses to them over time, and identifies some recent theorising that seems more likely to be able to contribute to ‘joined-up thinking’ on career and family-friendly issues. It then proposes the value of a systems approach and soft systems thinking to conceptualising a (family-friendly) career, and introduces the concept of a ‘family career’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using British national survey data, this article assesses the impact of unions on management practices to reduce labour costs, implement high-performance work systems, and make employee welfare provisions. Relative to non-union workplaces, those with unions are found to have practices which are consistent with ‘mutual gains’ outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is frequently argued that, as a consequence of radical organizational change, the role of first-line manager (FLM) has shifted from supervision to team leadership/co-ordination or business unit management. After reviewing the nature of these claims and the debate about the relationship between first-line management and supervision, evidence is presented from a survey of 135 organizations in London and the South East on how the role of FLM is presently defined and how it has changed. The findings paint a picture of a stable, consistent FLM role where a common performance-oriented supervisory core is surrounded by a penumbra of additional managerial responsibilities relating to stewardship, translating strategy into operations, unit management and, exceptionally, business management. The FLM role remains part of a hierarchical system of individual managerial responsibility and vertical accountability, with narrow spans of control, vertical and internal contacts and authority, participation in decisions and accountability confined largely to operating routines. Changes to the FLM role have been as much towards a strengthening of the supervisory core as a broadening into business management responsibilities. It is argued that the persistence and prevalence of the supervisory core stems from the continued location of FLMs within systems of external, hierarchical supervision. Far from being weakened, the supervisory core of the FLM role has often been strengthened by the adoption of more stringent controls over work practice in order to cope with a growth in business activity or comply with a greater range of external regulations. In some cases, however, a re-division of managerial labour has led to formerly middle management responsibilities and accountability being added to the supervisory core to produce an extended FLM role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present findings from three UK studies on the nature and consequences of employees' multiple commitments in the workplace, with samples drawn from private manufacturing, private services and the public sector. Co-workers, the union, the union representative, customers, and the immediate boss emerge as separate foci of commitment, distinct from‘global’ commitment to the organization as a whole. Consistent with social exchange theory, attitudinal and behavioural outcomes are predicted by commitment to those foci that might be expected to benefit from the outcome in question. There is evidence that global organizational commitment mediates the relationship between foci-specific commitments and organization-related outcomes, but there is no mediation in the case of those foci and outcomes that are more cognitively distant from the organization. A comparison of the studies suggests that the pattern and outcomes of commitment are influenced by the nature of the job and of the work context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopts a multilevel comparative approach to investigating the degree to which Japanese work systems are implemented and internalized in the UK business system. The locus is on the limits to accepting the continuous improvement schemes of Japanese multinational corporations. The article addresses national and local institutional factors and firm-level organizational factors affecting implementation and internalization. Using case studies of the adoption of Japanese work systems in two UK subsidiaries and in an Anglo-Japanese technical collaboration, it concludes that firms face a double barrier to the internalization of work systems in the form of, first, institutional embeddedness at national and local level, and second, embeddedness of tacit work systems at firm level. Firms attempt locally to interpret work systems transferred from the source company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory ergonomics is reported in an increasing number of case studies, but there is little evidence of emerging supportive theory and relatively little generic advice or guidance. The paper describes an effort to provide clarity and organization to the field of participatory ergonomics. A framework has been developed to define a range of different participatory ergonomics initiatives, establishing a number of levels at which to operate. This participatory ergonomics framework (the PEF) was validated through retrospective description of seven independently conducted case studies and through peer evaluation. The exercise suggests that the PEF can be used as a first basis to produce practical guidance on participatory ergonomics programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most work on high-performance work systems has examined only the direct relationship between a set of management practices and performance outcomes. This presumes that any connection operates through the incentive and motivational effects captured as 'high-commitment' or 'high-involvement' employee outcomes. No attempt has been made to examine the alternative, Labour Process conceptualization, which expects performance gains from new management practices to arise instead from work intensification, offloading of task controls, and increased job strain. Using data from WERS98, we tested models based on high-performance work systems and labour process approaches. Both were found wanting, and we consider the possible implications of these failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates linkages between education and work domains for a birth cohort of British men and women, In particular, the analyses examine Sørensen's conceptualization of open and closed position systems. We investigate one application of these concepts by examining whether open versus closed education systems (i.e., ability group and school type) generate jobs with first employer of differing duration and jobs in open versus closed work position systems. The methodology features a continuous-time discrete-state stochastic model of the transition from the first employer. The data include multiple event histories through age 23 for a 1958 birth cohort of over 11,000 British men and women. In general, we find important differences in the determinants of transitions from open versus closed employment systems. The major differences include gender and earlier life course location in open versus closed education systems and ability tracks. The empirical results only partially support hypotheses in the literature about the timing of transitions (duration dependence) in open and closed employment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argues that the key to improving the quality of training lies in an approach which stresses the redesign of work itself. British government's release of a white paper on the debate on the quality of training, titled 'New Training Initiatives'; Reasons for the upsurge of interest in skills training.

The Primary Care Dressing Scheme (PCDS) was introduced to primary care in Northumberland in 2010 and was designed to deliver improvements to the quality of care provided to patients in a large rural trust. The scheme was developed by the tissue viability service in collaboration with the prescribing lead for the Trust commissioners. The initial aim of the PCDS was a reduction in the wastage of wound care products prescribed for patients and to provide instant access to appropriate products at point of contact with the patient. Lean methodology for the management of the wound care product stock held by the district nurses was introduced, ensuring delivery of the right treatment at the right time. In addition, the number of dressings dispensed could be managed to reduce both wastage and costs. The use of Lean methodology in managing the PCDS has reduced costs by £125 000. The use of Lean methodology in the management of the total dressing scheme has enabled the realisation of significant financial savings in treating wounds in the primary care setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how Health Visitors Sarah Keighly and Vicky Barkworth utilized the Better Start initiative of Big Lottery Fund to transform the health visiting models and to increase the life chances of babies born in Blackpool town in Lancashire. Topics discussed include the health visitors' partnership with consultancy Renew to design a new home visiting model. Also mentioned is the introduction of agenda-matching tools to keep the model sustainable.

Focuses on the relationship between partnership working and social policy in Great Britain. Consequences in promoting good practice examples; Advantages and disadvantages of the integrated health and social care of mental health; Sufficiency of structural solutions in bringing changes of the work design.