June 2022

I began an Executive PhD with Bayes Business School (previously Cass Business School) at City University of London in 2019.  It has been a huge privilege to participate in this learning and I am entirely grateful to Mencap for supporting this pursuit. 

My work focuses on the evaluation of new ways of working in social care, based on principles of empowered teams, devolved power and reduced hierarchies.  It is designed to test whether these dynamics can enhance quality of life for people with learning disabilities, improve the experience of our colleagues, deliver value to the commissioners of support and the families of the people supported and result in sustainability for the care sector.  

The studies are well underway and it is focusing on the three areas below. 

Testing New Ways of Working 

The new ways of working are based upon four key organisational philosophies relevant to the delivery of support for people with learning disabilities: 

1. Teal organisational forms that enhance freedom and reduce bureaucracy for support colleagues 

2. The social model of disability that suggests that disability is created by barriers in society and impact on quality of life will require us to address those barriers 

3. Organisational agility being central to our ability to rapidly change or adapt in response to changes in the market

4. Asset based community development as a premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilising existing, but often unrecognised assets

Measuring Impact 

The studies reflect the need for more evidence in relation to these new ways of working and will focus on evaluating quantitative, qualitative and phenomenological impact in the following areas:

1. For the people we support and their families 

2. For our colleagues

3. For our commissioners and other stakeholders 

4. For our organisation 

This will allow us to estimate benefits and to academically assess our conclusions before sharing.  

Creating Change 

With our results we will be able to approach key stakeholders to propose the way in which the commissioning, delivery, planning and delivery of social care support can be optimised for greatest impact.