Kings College Hospital - Essay Example

Abstract Kings College Hospital is one of esteemed organisations in UK. The organisation has been proven itself in the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the service. This paper analyses the environment for Kings College Hospital through SWOT analysis. List of Contents Abstract I. Introduction II. Environmental Analysis i. External Environment ii. Internal Environment III. Developing a Fit between External and Internal Environment IV. Findings V. Recommendations VI. Conclusion VII. References I. Introduction The environmental analysis of an organisation is very important to know the opportunities and threats present in the organisation’s environment. This is because one needs to grab the opportunities and avoid the threats to move ahead with the rest of the industry. However, one may not be able to do this unless he is aware of his our own strengths and weaknesses. Because it is these strengths and weaknesses that are compared to the opportunities and threats present outside the organisation. Accordingly it is important to know about the changes that are to be brought in an organisation and implement these changes in order to develop a strategic fit between the organisation and its environment. For environmental analysis SWOT analysis is being conducted for The King’s College Hospital NHS Trust. The opportunities and threats are determined by conducting an external environmental analysis and the strengths and weaknesses are known with the help of internal analysis of an organisation. The facts are organised in such a manner so as to provide a clear picture about the King’s College Hospital and its environment. The first section of the paper deals with the environmental analysis for the King’s College Hospital and its environment. There are various factors of the internal and external environment of any organisation, which affect organisation’s functioning. This section deals with those factors. The SWOT analysis briefly discusses the crucial areas of concerns. The following section is an effort to develop a fit between external and internal environment. Findings of the analysis is summarised in the next section, which is followed by recommendation and conclusion. II. Environmental Analysis i. External Analysis The external analysis of an organisation is marked by intense competition between rival firms. It is important for the organization to conduct an external analysis and identify the opportunities and threats prevailing in the external environment. Based on the same, the organization can design suitable strategies to exploit the opportunities and counter the threats. This ensures smooth implementation of the corporate strategy. The external analysis of a firm enables the firm to obtain a clear picture of the threats and opportunities prevalent in the firm’s external environment. According to Dess, Gregory & Miller, Alex C, 2004, the external environment of an organisation includes the following elements, which are described in context of the King’s College Hospital 1. Demographic: Demography of the King’s College Hospital includes the patients of all age groups, sexes and races. 2. Sociocultural: The people with varied income groups can be the customers of King’s who have got highest health and fitness awareness. 3. Macroeconomic: The macroeconomic factors influencing the King’s Hospital can be the inflation rates of the currency in UK. 4. Global: The medical breakthroughs by the foreign hospitals and institutes can influence any hospital like King’s. 5. Technological: The technology is developing at a rapid pace in the world, which can prove to be both an opportunity as well as a threat for King’s. 6. Political/Legal: The King’s College Hospital works directly under the NHS England, which in turn is supported by the Department of Health of the UK government. In addition to the above general environment analysis there is a competitive environment, which needs to be assessed in order to get a clear picture of an organisation in its own industry. Since King’s College Hospital is a public sector institute which works as a not for profit organisation, there is no need to describe its competition strategies because competing with other hospitals and trusts is not included in its objectives. ii. Internal analysis The internal analysis of an organisation provides its strengths and weaknesses. In the internal analysis of an organisation, its resources are evaluated because these lead to competencies. The resources consist of the tangible and intangible assets and capabilities present in the organisation. Together these resources and competencies give competitive advantage. In case of King’s College Hospital, the process of internal analysis can be divided into the following headings: 1. Assets: The assets of the hospital include all tangible things and non-tangible services present in it. These assets were valued in the 2004-05 annual report of the hospital as given below (in ₤000): Intangible assets 132 Tangible assets 209,049 2. Capabilities: The capabilities of the hospital include the efficiency of the practitioners and other nursing and non-nursing staff, services provided by the management of the hospital to private patients, etc. 3. Competencies: Combination of the assets and the capabilities lead to competencies. 4. Communication: The organisation has an impressive information and communication system. 5. Organisation Structure: iii. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis (Ansoff, 1965) gives the strategic picture of the organisation. Strengths and weakness are the internal factors of the organisation. In this case the strength of the organisation is its old and trusted name. The organisation is known for its tertiary services. Organisation can capitalise on its strength and overcome its weakness for long term and sustainable growth. It is important for any organisation to work towards the benefits of the stakeholders. The external environment provides opportunities where organisation can grow further while knowledge of threats of the environment provides an opportunity to get prepared and deal with any kind of adverse condition. The medical record of Kings has strong resources available to serve the patients and people in need of healthcare services. It has 936 beds and 18 operating beds. III. Developing a Fit between External and Internal Environment In the last few years’ health care services have been developed in various aspects. This is due to various reasons. People have become more aware of their heath needs and government have proactively tried to meet the healthcare needs of mass. The increasing number of aging population on one hand has already got government attention. In the report of Kings College Hospital NHS Trust summary report 2004-2005 it is mentioned that it has achieved most of the national targets like Patients not waiting more than 12 hours in A&E after decision to admit, Total wait time in A&E is four hours or less, Cancer patients seen by specialist within two weeks of GP referral, Patients being able to book outpatient appointments and operations, Patients waiting more than 17 weeks for an outpatient appointment and Patients waiting more than nine months for an operation. Kings hospital have achieved or overachieved its targets in most of the processes whereas it has reduced the waiting time for the patients. This signifies the internal coordination, cooperation and consistent improvement of the performances. The only area where Kings College Hospital has not been able to achieve its target is Financial Management. This is one of the most crucial parts of any business or community activity because finance is required for all small or large activity. Trust has reported a financial loss of 1% at the end of the year 2005. King’s now takes part in this annual health check, which includes a self-assessment section concentrating on the broader issues which aim to measure issues of concern to patients, the public, clinicians and healthcare managers. The standards fall into seven categories1: Safety Clinical and cost effectiveness Governance Patient Focus Accessible and responsive care Care environment and amenities Public Health Kings College hospital has to deal with external and internal environment in a fast pace. The technological developments, maintaining efficiencies and effectiveness of the various processes, cost control, managing the workforce, taking advantage of new technologies and researches, controlling quality and achieving national and international standard of the operations are very challenging. The role of integration and communication becomes very crucial for achieving the overall objectives of the organisation. This is possible when the communication process within the organisation and with the external parties have been made effective and clear. The communication process should be short, timely and clear. The internal communication is important for the transfer of information regarding patient, his/her condition, medicines and dosage given, health progress record and other important activities. The effectiveness of external communication affects the logistics and support required to run internal processes smoothly. The vendors and suppliers of various medicines and other required materials need to get informed timely about the shortage of material to ensure the availability of required materials on time. The coordination among the various departments is again a factor that maintains a fit between external and internal environment of the organisation. Proper coordination among various staff and the departments dealing with external agencies increases the efficiency of the organisation. IV. Findings Based on the analysis of Kings College Hospital following things are clear: It has focused on patient care and achieved remarkable success in that. It has been constantly working to achieve national target in various area of activity. It has been putting efforts to achieve a balance in its external and internal environment. It has shortened its process and communication duration to increase efficiency in health care management. It has been following non-discriminatory policies and equality of opportunity in its working. The financial performance is one of the areas where more attention and efforts are required. There is a requirement to utilise the workforce in an effective manner to avoid the workforce problems. It has proved itself to be effective in managing diversity and equality within the workforce. a. Recommendations The manor area of concern is financial management. The organisation has experienced a loss of 1% in year 2004-05. The sustained losses may lead to various problems. The organisation may find the way to increase the income through new services, or decrease the expenses through collaborative research and research development programs. Each department can be encouraged to find out the areas where the cost can be reduced and for optimum utilisation of resources. The recyclable items can be identified and recycled. This can further impact the financials. To deal with the human resource shortage problems organisation may examine and forecast the number of aging professional, growth objectives of the Kings College Hospital and based on that the number of recruitments can be estimated. Encourage the employees for referrals for the recruitment. The turn over rates in the referrals appointments have been found lower than the other form of recruitments. The communication process can be more effective by making it less time consuming for the internal communication with in the organisation and the communication with third parties, patient and their family members. V. Conclusion The King College Institute is one of the esteemed organisations in UK. This organisation has proved the level of efficiency and patient focused approach. There are some areas where the organisation can still work on for the improvements. One of such areas is communication process. The organisation needs to have major focus on the financial management part. This is the only segment where it was not even able to achieve the national standard while for all the other criteria it has achieved or overachieved the targets. The organisation needs to focus on the resource management part for the cost cutting measures. It needs to encourage various departments for cost cutting in effective manner without affecting the service standards. The organisation need to recruit people with keeping the retiring workforce and increasing level of the services offered. The main focus for any hospital or healthcare institution is to serve the patients cost effectively. The Kings College Hospital has been able to achieve the remarkable success in its service. It needs to focus more on the financial management to achieve overall success in its operations. VI. 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London: King's Fund; 1999 http://www.kch.nhs.uk/about/history accessed on 13 May 2006 http://www.kch.nhs.uk/about/organisation accessed on 13 May 2006 http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm accessed on 13 May 2006 http://www.kch.nhs.uk/about/strategies-policies accessed on 13 May 2006 http://www.kch.nhs.uk/news/archive/2006/kings-health-standards Read More