Training at Townsville Hospital and Health Service

Evaluation of negotiation skills training at Townsville Hospital and Health Service

Authors: Robyn Clay-Williams, Paul Lane, Lauren Camilleri, Andrew Johnson

Resource type: Reports and monographs

Report for Townsville Negotiation Training Evaluation.pdf

Researchers from the Human Factors and Resilience stream within CHRIS have recently completed an evaluation of a two-day Negotiation Skills training course for executives, senior clinicians, and managers at Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS). The THHS has sponsored negotiation skills training since February 2015, with 80 staff completing the program as of May 2016. The program focuses on intensive negotiation skills training using integrative bargaining, training participants to identify ‘win win’ solutions that can improve efficiency without incurring additional cost. This evaluation was funded by a small grant from the Townsville Hospital and Health Service Research Trust Fund.

Eighteen staff members who had completed the training, comprising 25% of eligible participants, were randomly selected and interviewed for this study. Qualitative inductive interpretive analysis of transcribed interviews was undertaken to identify key themes relating to the negotiation skills training. Six primary themes - affective reactions, utility reactions, barriers to implementation, enablers for translation, work practices, and sustainability- and 28 sub-themes emerged from the analysis. Implications for THHS included recognition of constraints when negotiating with external organisation such as QLD Health, identification of time as a major barrier to implementation of the new skills, and the importance of an organisation wide strategy underpinning the training.

Centres related to this resource

Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science