Title: The Governance of Quality: The case of the Specialist Care Organization
Author: Philip Boxer
Category: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2014
Where published: EURAM conference proceedings, if accepted
This paper describes a two-year intervention within an organization providing residential care for men and women with mental health disabilities. This intervention took place during the time when the UK Government was engaged in de-institutionalisation, making the transition to Community Care and instituting internal market reforms. The paper draws conclusions for consulting practice in the light of events during the course of the following five years. The intervention itself was concerned with supporting changes in the way the work of the organization supported the lives of its residents. Three issues emerged from this intervention: firstly, the nature and complexity of the client system in its context and the challenge this presented; secondly, the consulting approach involved in responding to this challenge, and thirdly, the implications the approach had for the governance of the client system. The paper’s conclusion considers the implications of the change in the relationship to anxiety that was being expected, and the kind of courage that this demanded.