Pre-crisis damage containment and leadership policy in health services.

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]