Governance: our impact on fair and reliable working practices
At UMC Utrecht, we look at what is important for our colleagues. And together with them, make important decisions for our organization. We want to do this in a clear and reliable way. Our colleagues have a unique view of the impact of certain decisions and developments. From our survey among colleagues , it appears that they are particularly curious to know how we ask them for their opinion, knowledge and suggestions when it comes to important developments in our organization.
At UMC Utrecht, we encourage employees as well as patients and students to think along and give us advice on the direction we are taking with our healthcare, our research, and our education. Together, we can safeguard and improve the quality of our healthcare, research, and education. To this end, we have formal participation bodies in place. Our colleagues and students are given time and space to play a role on one of these boards. In addition, we offer training courses and other educational opportunities to support colleagues and students in their role.
Nurse managers improve healthcare
A fine example of how we encourage colleagues to take an active part in improving healthcare can be seen in our Future-proof Nursing program , with new role of ‘nurse manager’ . Alongside their healthcare work, nurse managers are also given time for other improvement initiatives/projects such as testing and applying innovations in healthcare.
In our neuro-oncology department, a nurse manager in 2024 for instance worked on shortening the duration of intensive care in a separate ward after head surgery. Patients can now be transferred quicker to a regular nursing ward where there is intensive monitoring. This is more pleasant for patients, and also means that more people who need it can undergo such surgery. The nurse manager studied the situation, asked colleagues for input, and thus devised a feasible plan through collaboration.
Julia, nurse manager: “As a nurse manager I am in close contact with the patient and know what works and what doesn’t. I also see the bigger picture, look at what can improve, and have a say in it. Together with colleagues, I can then really improve healthcare for patients. It’s very satisfying.”
Colleagues have a say in the transformation of our organization
In ‘the transformation’ , we look at how we can make our processes smarter and more coherent. We do this in order to innovate and improve faster and respond more effectively to changes and demands from society. To do so, we must find a new way of working together. That is why we are going to change the structure of our organization. For colleagues, this is of course an important development. We therefore encourage them to share any specific questions or concerns they may have. They can do so with their manager or the chairperson of a panel. They will then receive personal assistance. Of course, they can always also let their voice be heard by communicating with our advisory and participation bodies .
In 2022, in so-called ‘sprints’, we did the preliminary work for the transformation at the start of the Healthcare of Tomorrow program. Approximately a thousand colleagues took part in this. In the meanwhile, some 250 colleagues have been working in one of four change streams (design, preparation, change, and/or coordination). They have weekly working sessions. In these, plans are discussed and further elaborated. The group is growing steadily. Colleagues are actively approached to take part, or can indicate that they would like to think or work along on a one-off, regular, or ongoing basis.
