MSc Healthcare Leadership and Management
28 Months Part Time | September Start

This module will enable you to understand and critically appraise theories and concepts of strategic management approaches in relation to healthcare organisations. You will be introduced to the conceptual foundations of strategic management focussing on the essential strategic tasks of leadership and management. In particular, research and theory on organisational behaviour will foster your understanding of the impact of positive and negative relationships within the organisational healthcare culture. You will learn how leadership and change management skills are addressed as an integral part of management in relation to communication and strategic planning for healthcare leaders. The module is particularly relevant if you are a senior or aspiring manager working in healthcare but is also very relevant if you have an interest in management in healthcare organisations. As a manager in a strategic role, you could be setting objectives for the organisation and creating the routes towards reaching these goals.
Key area you will study include:-
Understanding healthcare organisations: Challenges for Healthcare Management: global perspectives
Strategic Management: levels of strategy; Strategic planning
Service Area Competitor Analysis: Determining obstacles and boundaries
Environmental Analysis: Internal and external resources Management for high performance healthcare
The Organisational setting: The meaning of organisational behaviour; Organisational practices
Managers and managerial behaviour: Principles of management; Managerial roles; Managerial effectiveness and leadership
Culture and climate in healthcare organisations: Cross-cultural leadership
You will critically apply knowledge within areas of your discipline and /or healthcare management that will support your future employability and long term career prospects.

Through studying this module you will learn about the theories and models of leadership and management relevant to public health and / or healthcare management.
You will explore models of partnership working and the importance of working collaboratively to improve the health of the public. You will explore the application of leadership and management within contexts responsible for the provision of public health and / or healthcare management. You will gain an increased understanding of the importance of working in collaboration with partners to maximise resources and lead on health activities that aim to improve the health of the public and develop health services. You will critically evaluate a range of core concepts, theories and frameworks which are fundamental to understanding leadership and management theories and models of partnership working. You will have the opportunity to reflect on your own skill base and identify developmental needs in becoming an effective leader who is responsive and adaptive to change. Your learning on this module will include some of the key tasks involved in leadership and management within public health and / or healthcare management.

Specific areas that you will study will include:-

• Leadership and management theories
• Performance management and resource allocation in public health and healthcare management services
• Collaborative leadership skills development.
• Effective partnership working
• Approaches to negotiation and influencing
• Using tools for service improvement
• Leading in different public health and / or healthcare management contexts.

In this module, you will learn what health improvement is and how to critically understand the role that health behaviours, practices, interventions and forms of health communication play in health improvement. You will explore the origins, content and organisation of health improvement practices in the UK and beyond (including cross-national comparisons and international policies and practices). The module will enable you to identify and critically reflect on the main theoretical principles underlying health improvement and critically apply these to improving health and in response to health inequalities and inequities. You will examine how various forms of intervention in health improvement (including community development, social marketing and critical health communication) can be (and have been) used to influence health and social change. You will learn how to effectively solve real-world problems and develop skills to enable you to plan, implement and evaluate appropriate health improvement interventions. You will also engage in peer-learning, drawing on the wide variety of practice experience possessed by our cohorts. Key topics you will study include:-
• Introduction to Health Improvement: Origins, Content and Organisation
• Theories of Behaviour Change and Health
• Health Communication: Theories, Approaches and Practice
• Cross-national Case-studies in Health Promotion: Developing Critical Understandings of Wellbeing
• Social Marketing and Health Improvement
• Health Improvement and Community Development (including Community Wealth Building, Asset based, Foundational Economy etc)
Health Informatics and ‘Learning Health Systems’
• Evaluation, Ethics and Public Participation in Health Improvement
• Health Improvement: Comparisons and Lessons