Managing health and social care
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| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees may vary by country.
Summary
What does effective management mean to you? What characteristics underpin successful leadership? What is involved in performance management? This course is for people with management responsibilities in the public, voluntary and private sectors of health and social care. You’ll explore areas such as effective team working; how managers can influence and improve communication and decision-making; implementing change; and managing and controlling budgets. It will provide you with the knowledge, techniques and analytical tools you need to become a more effective manager and, importantly, will help you to develop the skills that underpin the delivery of modern health and social care services.
Course content
This course will be of interest to clinicians, nurses, social workers and other health care professionals. It will help you to perform more effectively as a manager by:
- increasing your management knowledge and competence
- providing you with theories, concepts and techniques to apply in different management settings
- helping you to understand your own role, its context and the nature of your interventions in your organisation
- encouraging you to be a reflective practitioner, applying independent and inquisitive learning in the workplace.
The course is divided into four modules.
Module 1 The Manager focuses on developing the awareness and skills necessary for effective management. It is concerned with the complex jobs of managers in health and social care, and the ways in which people learn to manage themselves. It also considers the relationship between you, as a manager, and the organisation in which you work. This theme is developed to discuss how health and social care organisations relate to their environment and to those who use their services.
Module 2 Managing People focuses on the skills of ‘people management’. It explores theories of motivation and different perspectives on leadership. It examines the processes involved in managing the performance of individuals and teams, including appraisal, training and development, and dealing with poor performance. It discusses the recruitment and selection of staff. It describes strategies for dealing with conflict in a positive way. It concludes with an examination of the processes involved in implementing change, and introduces a number of ‘tools’ that are helpful in managing change.
Module 3 Managing Services focuses on the skills required to manage the delivery of effective services. It examines who your ‘customers’ are and the demands they place on you. It explores what ‘quality’ means in the context of health and social care. It describes the process of management control – setting standards, monitoring progress against them, and taking action if they are not met. It examines what is involved in setting budgets and the features of effective budgetary control. It introduces some of the techniques available to you in planning and managing projects.
Module 4 Managing Information considers what constitutes high-quality information and focuses on management information systems as a means of providing information to support decision making. It considers how you can improve the flow of information in your work area, and the issues that organisational structures need to address so that managers and staff can operate as effectively as possible. It addresses the topic of communication – one of the fundamentals of effective management. It examines how threats to information security can be protected against. It concludes by considering how organisational structures impact on the flow of information in the workplace.
Vocational relevance
K307 is based on the standards of competence required for Level 4 N/SVQs in Management.
Entry
K307 is ideally suited to those working in the fields of health and social care who already have some form of management responsibility. There are no specific entry requirements, but K307 is a Level 3 course. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from previous studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
You will receive guidance of how to get started online in your first course mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your course website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the course starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.
Qualifications
We can award a Professional Certificate in Management (Health and Social Care) (C40) to students who successfully complete the course.
K307 is an optional course in our
- BA/BSc (Honours) Health and Social Care (B18)
- Shortened BA/BSc (Honours) Health and Social Care (B22)
- BA/BSc (Honours) Nursing Studies (B47)
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is equally appropriate to a BA or BSc. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change. This course will be mapped against the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework.
Excluded combinations
Sometimes you will not be able to count a course towards a qualification if you have already taken another course with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this course, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Large print versions of the course materials can be provided on request. Other alternative formats of the course materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Four course modules, each containing four books; resource file and skills pack; CD-ROM and audio CDs. You will also have access to a course website through which teaching and library resources are available. Electronic versions of some of the printed course materials are provided on the course website.
You will need
A CD player.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. Part of your tuition is delivered online so some of the contact with your tutor will be through email and online discussion forums, although phone communication may also be used. You will also be offered three face-to-face tutorials that you are encouraged to attend. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
You will be given more detailed information when you begin the course.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2010. We expect it to be available at the same time once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
An undergraduate course in Health and Social Care.
Study explained
- Course
- - a module of study that can count towards a qualification.
- Credit points
- - show how much study is required to complete a course or qualification. One credit point represents roughly 10 hours of study.
- Level
- - indicates how difficult a course is. Undergraduate study starts at Level 1.
- Financial support
- - find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.
- Study explained
- - all you need to know about studying with the OU.
Student Reviews
This is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable course. Well structured, the four books provided are loose leaf, and I added ...
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I found the course very enlightening and helped me in my job. It has a broad base and gives you ...
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