Tracing healthcare organisation integration in the UK using actor–network theory
Journal of Health Organization and Management
ISSN: 1477-7266
Article publication date: 14 February 2020
Issue publication date: 2 April 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The study presents the findings from a study over a four-year period of the emergence of an integrated healthcare organisation in response to policy changes within the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of the research was to understand the process of healthcare organisation integration through the lens of actor–network theory (ANT).
Design/methodology/approach
An instrumental case study approach to data collection was selected. Three methods of data collection were used to trace the healthcare organisation integration process: in depth semistructured interviews using a virtual patient journey across services with 36 purposefully selected informants, document analysis and field observations and notes.
Findings
The findings of this study suggest that neither the context nor the actors were the sole determinants of the outcome of the integration. Rather it was the dynamic interplay between the actors, their context, the shared agency and the resources available to them as the change emerged shaped the end result.
Research implications
The findings denote that organisations need to attend to frontline workers as key contributors to change and development that is meaningful for service users. Methodologically, combining the ANT and constructive case study to understand the integration process provided us with new perspective to understand the trajectory of change process.
Originality/value
This original case study fills a gap in information about the role of healthcare professionals in healthcare policy process and the interactive relationship between all stakeholders of policy process including nonhuman actors.
Keywords
Citation
Altabaibeh, A., Caldwell, K.A. and Volante, M.A. (2020), "Tracing healthcare organisation integration in the UK using actor–network theory", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 192-206. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-12-2019-0339
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited