Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Isaac Enakimio and Abdallah Al-Shawabkeh
Q1.3 What is <strong>the</strong> correlation between ‘IT’ factor and <strong>the</strong> Strategic Objectives for Medway
PCT?
A questionnaire was distributed which was made up <strong>of</strong> 40 questions with answers that
were based on <strong>the</strong> 5-point Likert-scale with <strong>the</strong> values;
1 - strongly disagree, 2 - disagree, 3 - neutral, 4 - agree and 5 - strongly agree.
In comparison to most researches conducted in NHS organisations, <strong>the</strong> responses were very
impressive; largely because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> researchers close involvement with members <strong>of</strong> staff and
relationship with <strong>the</strong> different management teams within <strong>the</strong> organisation. A total number <strong>of</strong> 124
respondents returned <strong>the</strong>ir questionnaires but 22 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> questionnaires were not filled in properly
<strong>the</strong>reby were excluded for <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> this research.
2. Relationship between KM and <strong>the</strong> NHS
Prior to <strong>the</strong> recent NHS reform, which has led to <strong>the</strong> on-going changes in <strong>the</strong> NHS, <strong>the</strong> Strategic
Health Authority (SHA) had begun exploring <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> KM tools in order to achieve its strategic
objectives in <strong>the</strong> hope that, <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> knowledge used within <strong>the</strong> organisation with <strong>the</strong> aid <strong>of</strong> KM
tools could help it to gain an improved edge in providing better patient care.
The recent changes mean that, a lot <strong>of</strong> employees are being lost due to job cuts, transfers,
relocations etc. which in turn means <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> valuable knowledge about <strong>the</strong> organisation and
patient care in <strong>the</strong> Medway area. The irony <strong>of</strong> all <strong>of</strong> it is that, <strong>the</strong> mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> NHS in <strong>the</strong> Medway
area irrespective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> transformations, have still remained <strong>the</strong> same.
Robertson, S (2005) states that:
“Knowledge management is based on <strong>the</strong> idea that an organisation’s most valuable
resource is <strong>the</strong> knowledge <strong>of</strong> its people. This is not a new idea but <strong>the</strong> focus on
knowledge is and this is driven by <strong>the</strong> accelerated rate <strong>of</strong> change in today’s organisations
and in society as a whole”.
The world has changed a lot over <strong>the</strong> years with technology, culture and processes adding a different
dimension to our jobs. This has led to more staff dependency on knowledge to carry out <strong>the</strong>ir jobs and
based on this, it is safe to say that to some degree or <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r all workers can be classified as
“knowledge workers”
Drucker, (1993)“KM recognises that today nearly all jobs involve 'knowledge work' and
so all staff are 'knowledge workers' - meaning that <strong>the</strong>ir job depends more on <strong>the</strong>ir
knowledge than <strong>the</strong>ir manual skills. This means that creating, sharing and using
knowledge are among <strong>the</strong> most important activities <strong>of</strong> nearly every person in every
organisation.”
In <strong>the</strong> health sector, since all health personnel function based on how much <strong>the</strong>y know, <strong>the</strong>
importance <strong>of</strong> KM cannot be over emphasised. The age old question still remains: “how much do <strong>the</strong>y
really know?” An exercise that seems as simple to a doctor or nurse as giving an injection has
different effects on people <strong>of</strong> different races. Experienced nurses have discovered that injecting
patients from a black racial background requires more force at a different angle <strong>of</strong> penetration
compared to <strong>the</strong>ir racially white counterparts. This finding in most cases is not covered in textbooks
and even when <strong>the</strong>y are covered we know that <strong>the</strong>oretical knowledge and practical experience is a
whole different ball game.
With all <strong>the</strong> advances being made in medicine every day, <strong>the</strong>re is always a new knowledge to be
learned. There are also continuously changing governments and policies, as well as management
practices which are instantly evident with <strong>the</strong> on-going NHS reform.
Also, health practitioners usually gain experience and knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir fields and communities over
time, this experiential knowledge can instantly be lost by <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se kinds <strong>of</strong> staff and could
subsequently lead to poor patient care. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> need for KM in <strong>the</strong> health sector cannot be
over emphasised in aiding <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> better patient care.
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