The Workplace Study of Occupational Roles: The Case of Healthcare Support Workers
Speaker
Abstract
| This paper presents findings from a recently completed study on the nature and consequences of support workers in the British health service. The support role, working alongside the qualified nurse, has assumed increasing importance in the context of New Labour’s attempts to modernize the National Health Service: it has been used as a vehicle for the pursuit a range of public policy objectives related to labour supply and care quality. It is, however, an unusual role, requiring post holders to engage with the most vulnerable members of the community but without the need for any formal qualifications. The paper addresses three questions: What kind of person takes up the support worker role? What form does the role take in terms of tasks performed? What impact does the role have on different stakeholders: the post holders themselves, the nurses they support and the patients they care for? These questions are addressed by using a multi-method case study approach generating qualitative and quantitative data. The paper will be positioned in a number of ways: assessing the evidence based for the policy objectives held for the support role; engaging with various theoretical debates on the nature of work and occupation formation; and exploring how the multi methods case study approach might generate, process and present data on workplace issues. |
| Contact information: |
| Bas Koene |
