This thesis has been written in relation to the graduation of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Aalborg University.
This thesis is based on the organization Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland (Central Denmark Region). Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland is part of the regional health care offers for the citizens. There are 10 treatment facilities which are geographically distributed around the region, although Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland operates as one assembled hospital.
As an organization Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland faces, along with the psychiatry in the rest of Denmark, a new reality.
In recent years, there has been a large growth in the number of people with mental illnesses who are given treatment. This tendency has gone from hospitalization to more ambulant treatment. From prolonged hospitalizations to shorter, intensive courses with continuous observations in ambulant settings
Mental illnesses account for 25 % of the total burden of disease in Denmark, succeeded by cancer and circulatory diseases, which account for 17 % and 15,2 % respectively. Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders are the cause of 50 % of all long-term notifications of absence due to illness, and 48 % of all persons on early retirement. When young people under the age of 30 are administered to early retirement, it is attributed to mental illnesses 4 out 5 times. The excessive mortality of the mentally ill is high, and life expectancy for these people today is 15-20 years than compared to the rest of the population
Due to all these factors, the Psychiatry as an organization is confronted with a large number of challenges.
In order accede to the increasing demand and the new reality, Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland has produced a Psychiaty program containing strategies for the development of Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland in the time period 2013-2016. The headline for this psychiatry program says, “Better treatment and longer life for more people with mental illnesses”.
A well-structured and thoroughly detailed Psychiaty program, on basis of focus areas that need prioritizing, in proportion to the challenges that the organization is facing as of now, as well as the years ahead. The main focus of this thesis is the examination of the extent to which the Psychiaty program 2013-2016 is known, experienced and employed in Psykiatrien i Region Midtjylland. The study will include an analysis of the organization based on the terms strategy, leadership and culture.
The method used in this study is designed as a combination between questionnaires and interviews. The departmental management has filled out questionnaires on their experiences with the Psychiaty program across all departments of the organization. Several interviews have been conducted in different branches of the organization, across the senior management, the departmental management, the sector management, as well as the operational level through practitioners. Thus, a impact has been made in the organization, both horizontally and vertically.
The study concludes that the strategies of the Psychiaty program fail in reaching out to the operational units, and thereby the clinics that treat the patients. It was concluded that the present psychiatry is situated in a revolution, which has brought great influence on culture.
It was also concluded the majority of leaders want more focus on a collective way to implement the strategies.
In fine, it is concluded that Balanced Scorecard can be the tool to ensure the collective implementation of the strategies, making them clearly visible to the organization, as a whole.