UK Audit Commission Guide to change and improvement in public service

Citation

(2001), "UK Audit Commission Guide to change and improvement in public service", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214gab.015

UK Audit Commission Guide to change and improvement in public service

UK Audit Commission Guide to change and improvement in public service

A new Audit Commission Guide, Change Here!, identifies and addresses the core challenges in delivering tangible improvements and overcoming barriers to change in UK public services, drawing on practical experience in both the public and the private sectors. Case studies from across the spectrum of public services, including social services, education, the NHS, and the police, show how organisations have improved their performance in very different circumstances. The Audit Commission for local authorities and the NHS in England and Wales is an independent body established under the provisions of the Audit Commission Act 1998. Its duties are to appoint auditors to all local and health authorities and to help them bring about improvements in economy, efficiency and effectiveness directly through the audit process and through value for money studies.

Public services have no option but to deliver step-changes in performance, if they are to meet public and political expectations. Therefore, delivering positive change and continuous service improvement is the biggest challenge public service leaders face today. This is the new guide to managing change for top managers in public services, which reinforces the importance of putting users' needs at centre stage.

Sir Andrew Foster, Controller of the Audit Commission, said:

Through our work with a wide range of local public service bodies, the Audit Commission has learned a great deal about both the opportunities and the challenges of managing change effectively. Change Here! seeks to distil that learning, as well as draw on the insights of successful leaders of change, to help public service managers deliver tangible improvement for service users, so that public services remain vibrant and relevant, now and in the future.

Key lessons from the report are:

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  research among local staff shows that, while nearly three-quarters of staff understand the need for change, less than one-quarter think that it is well managed in their council;

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  to be successful, a huge amount of time needs to be spent communicating and building support for change;

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  leaders need persistence, resilience and consistency of purpose to stick to the key priorities through the typical ups and downs of change;

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  to improve the things that matter, change programmes must be rooted in users' experiences and priorities;

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  weak project management is often to blame when change programmes fail;

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  leaders can use external input as a key lever and support for change;

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  change programmes should include building the capacity for continuous improvement as an explicit goal.

The report concludes that change initiatives must be tailored by local organisations to tackle the problems facing their communities, if change is to be owned locally by the public and by their own staff. This does not, however, mean accepting variations in performance that compromise service outcomes – the same standards of health, education, and policing, are expected everywhere – but it does mean that change cannot be driven from the centre alone. Government must give local service providers the flexibility to respond to local demands and, in return, public service bodies must deliver services that match the standards of the best.

The report is rather long (112 pages) but the Audit Commission has provided an interactive Web page at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/changehere This provides a quick route into the guide's key ideas, and helps users to find and explore topics and case studies of particular interest. Its key sections are: types of change; leading change; local ownership; sticking to priorities; focus on users; managing change programmes; external help; building capacity; key lessons; case studies.

It begins with a set of three questions, designed to focus attention on your own experiences of managing change, and ends with four questions to help reflect on the material. There are 21 case studies, with a search facility to help you select those of interest.

Change Here! is rather different from normal Audit Commission reports, and is the first in a series of initiatives from the Audit Commission on the theme of change management.

Further information: Copies of the report can be obtained from Audit Commission Publications, PO Box 99, Wetherby LS23 7JA. Freephone: 0800 502030, or can be viewed or downloaded from the Audit Commission Web site at: www.audit-commission.gov.uk/changehere