Clinical Programme Management: A Model of Promise?

As professionals working within a rapidly changing health care environment, it becomes critical to recognize alternatives for the management of clinical services to maximize the use of resources. However, it is also critical to remain constantly aware of the needs of valued and valuable employees, ensuring that the quality of working life is considered whenever any decisions are being made which will affect the work place. This paper reviews some of the literature related to decentralized structural models for health care institutions, and details the selection and implementation of one model in a major teaching hospital. The process of development from the initial idea through to the actual operationalization of a clinical programme management model is outlined, providing a critique of strengths and weaknesses of the model in the context of this particular organization.