As we progress through our 50th anniversary year here at the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), one of the highlights of our work has been the tradition of sharing knowledge and encouraging debate through our events and seminars. These events come in different forms and formats, and serve a range of purposes, all of which lie at the heart of our mission.
The purpose of our events is diverse. They provide a platform to share and disseminate research findings, and in so doing provoke scholarly debate about topical healthcare issues. Central to what HSMC does is making connections between theory and practice, and this is evident in our events too; as is allowing attendees access to important research and applied best practice. Lastly, expanding our range of topics and contributors helps to develop a community of scholars and practitioners with a common interest in health, healthcare, and healthcare management and leadership.
For many, attending an HSMC event is the first contact that they have with the University, and stimulates interest and involvement that culminates in registering for a programme of study or getting actively involved with our research. For others, our events nourish an existing relationship, widening networks and deepening the psychological connection with HSMC. Developing and maintaining a series of talks, discussions, presentations and seminars is hard work – academic colleagues and professional support staff spend a great deal of energy and time, working in true partnership, to make them happen – but in many ways they capture the essence of the HSMC mission.
In this, our 50th year, this tradition continues. We will hear about a wide variety of topics, ranging from the relationship between income inequality, welfare regime and aggregate health; priority setting in a changing world; the impact of COVID and what it has illustrated about health inequalities and people from ethnic minority backgrounds; the sociology of complementary and alternative medicines; and about waiting times for elective surgery. In so doing, we will hear from colleagues old and new, and hopefully also engage with audiences old and new, too.
HSMC has always held a unique position of research into application, and practice leading to research, as a continuous loop. We are also privileged to hold the position of being deeply embedded in the local West Midlands health economy, whilst also contributing the highest quality of outputs at a national level, and increasingly, in an international way. Our strength has always been an openness to ideas, a curiosity about the global health systems, and recognising that understanding the world is in itself useful, but there has to be a purpose in improving it, too. Colleagues, students, partners and collaborators – join us in the celebratory year and immersive yourselves in our events in 2022.
You can find details of our next event here which will be “What has COVID-19 taught us about setting priorities in health care? with Professor Iestyn Williams, Professor Suzanne Robinson and Professor Helen Dickson.
If you missed our previous two events, you can watch the recordings via the links below:
· 'Are we there yet? 50 years of "fixing" social care' with Professor Jon Glasby, Professor Catherine Needham and Peter Hay CBE.
· The relationship between income inequality, welfare regime and aggregate health” with Kim Ki-Tae from Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs.
Steve Gulati, Senior Fellow and Director of Healthcare Leadership at HSMC
