Organising Care in a Time of Covid-19: Implications for Leadership, Governance and Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisation and delivery of health and care services across the world.
In many countries, policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demand of COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals. Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation of both ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questions about the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, the pandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilst in others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient and adaptive to unanticipated pressures.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically and to develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapt to such unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider how responses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance of health and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership at local, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insight and analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governance of care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role of professionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.

Justin Waring is Professor of Medical Sociology and Healthcare Organisation at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, and is Visiting Professor at School of Public Administration, University of Gothenburg.

Jean-Louis Denis holds the Canada research chair (tier I) on Health System Design and Adaptation. He is Senior Scientist, Health System and Innovation at the Research Center of the CHUM (CRCHUM), and Visiting Professor, Department of Management, King’s College London.

Anne Pedersen is Professor at Copenhagen Business School.

Tim Tenbensel is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.