Introduction
Janette McCulloch is the Management Fellow attached to the team.
The Management Fellowship Scheme was established by the SDO NIHR in 2009 and gave SDO-funded project teams the opportunity to apply for additional resources to allow them to second a local health services manager to work with their team. The fellowship post is supernumerary to the research team.
This was an innovative move by the SDO.
Janette is one of 14 Management Fellows currently funded and attached to research teams around the country. Different ways of working have been developed across the group of Fellows but overall objectives for the initiative have been
- to improve the quality and relevance of the respective funded research projects through greater managerial involvement
- to develop capacity in the managerial community for accessing, appraising and using research evidence
- to encourage greater engagement, linkage and exchange between the local research producers (usually universities) and potential local research users within the NHS.
Most Management Fellows are typically practising health care managers, and have been employed full-time for 12 months at some point during the research project.
However this team has deliberately taken a different approach to the initiative: Janette has been working 1.5 days a week over the life of the research project and while she has worked as a health care manager in the past, her current professional life is that of a freelance mediator and consultant.
The research team would like to acknowledge the kind support of the SDO in supporting the appointment of the Fellow.