BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Columba Systems Ltd//NONSGML CPNG/SpringViewer/ICal Output/3.3- M3//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260923T084727Z DTSTART:20261109T180000Z DTEND:20261109T190000Z SUMMARY:The Annual Teddy Chester Lecture - Why is the NHS so hard to Mana ge? UID:{http://www.columbasystems.com/customers/uom/gpp/eventid/}z5v-mudv0u2 a-mu8f14 DESCRIPTION:In this lecture\, Professor Mary Dixon-Woods will focus on th e complexities and hardships of managing the NHS and what solutions and improvements could be made.\n\nWhy is it so hard to manage the NHS?\nExp ected to deliver universal\, safe\, timely\, equitable\, compassionate\, efficient and innovative care amid intense financial\, workload and dem and pressures\, and under sustained public scrutiny and political exposu re\, the NHS is exceptionally difficult to manage.\n\nAttempts to manage from the top characteristically run into the messy realities of work at the sharp end of care\, not to mention a highly complex ecology of orga nisations\, professions\, estates\, path dependencies\, and local circum stances.\n\nAttempts to manage entirely from the bottom up bring their o wn risks: duplication\, localism\, inequity\, weak accountability and wa ste. The challenge is compounded by the fact that the NHS must act throu gh institutional machinery that is both necessary and constraining.\n\nT he legal\, regulatory and normative environments in which it operates pr ofoundly shape what kinds of managerial action are possible\, at what sp eed\, and with what impact.\n\nProcurement rules\, contracting arrangeme nts\, employment law\, professional regulation\, information governance\ , policy directives\, financial incentives\, public law duties and regul atory regimes all exist for good reasons.\n\nBut they also mean that app arently simple managerial tasks – recruiting and retaining the right peo ple\, redesigning roles\, addressing harmful behaviour\, buying equipmen t\, changing a pathway\, sharing data\, or stopping ineffective practice s – can be frustrating\, transactionally costly\, risky\, and prone to f ailure.\n\nThese are all long-standing problems that have proven remarka bly difficult to shift. If we can avoid the naïve optimism that another reorganisation will save us\, or that pulling harder on the same old lev ers of rules and incentives will be enough\, there is hope.\n\nThat hope is practical\, disciplined and evidence-based: it lies in taking manage ment seriously as a capability. Better management\, better managers and better operational systems are not peripheral to improving care for pati ents\; they are the conditions that make improvement possible.\n\nTeddy Chester Lecture\nThis annual lecture marks the contribution of Teddy Che ster\, who was the first professor of social administration at The Unive rsity of Manchester.\n\nFrom his appointment in the early 1950s\, to his retirement in the 1970s he was an influential pioneer in management dev elopment\, using evidence and research with policy makers\, and working with clinical leaders. He was involved in founding and leading the NHS G raduate Training Scheme\, and in founding Manchester Business School.\n\ nThere will be refreshments served from 5:30pm with the opportunity for networking before the lecture for those attending in person at Alliance MBS. STATUS:TENTATIVE TRANSP:TRANSPARENT CLASS:PUBLIC LOCATION:Aliiance Manchester Business School\, Booth Street West\, Manche ster\, M15 6PB END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR