Role redesign: new ways of working in the NHS

Purpose – To examine the introduction of role-redesign in the NHS and highlight implications for employment relations. Design/methodology/approach – A 12-month independent evaluation (2003-2004) of a role redesign initiative in the NHS is reported. The study followed a developmental, case-study design and included secondary data analysis, semi-structured interviews and observations at five case-study sites. Findings – The role redesign process involved four types of change to job content: skill-mix changes; job widening; job deepening; and development of new roles. Each of these changes had implications for employment relations in terms of remuneration, management and accountability, and education and training. Research limitations/implications – The research involves one initiative in the NHS and was evaluating a developing programme. Whilst implications are suggested for efforts at role redesign generally the research specifically relates to NHS organisations. Practical implications – Three aspects of employment relations are identified as important when attempting role redesign: remuneration, management and accountability, and education and training. Originality/value – This paper offers the first account of this national NHS role redesign initiative.