MSc Health Care Management
- Programme director
- Charitini Stavropoulou
- Programme length
- Full-time: 12 months, PT-DR: 24 months
- Programme start date
- September 2013
Offered as part of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.
With a business management orientation this programme draws on a broad base of management theory.
Programme overview
This programme aims to provide a high-quality, vocational education, which is intellectually rigorous and up-to-date, as well as relevant to the needs of existing and future managers, executives and clinicians in the healthcare sector.
The programme has a business management orientation and draws on a broad base of management theory and examples to explain and analyse the sector. It is designed to provide participants with concepts, models, techniques and examples, which will enable them to improve the provision of care to patients.
It is based on specially designed modules to give students a thorough grounding in the basic management disciplines, followed by specialist modules in particular aspects of healthcare management
Entry requirements
Applicants should usually hold a Bachelors degree (UK 2.2 or above) or equivalent qualification from a recognised British/overseas university. Every applicant is assessed individually on their own merit. Higher level professional qualifications may also be accepted. Relevant work experience could be an additional benefit where applicants have not reached the standard entry requirements, although it is not an admissions requirement for this particular degree programme.
English language requirements
IELTS minimum overall: 6.5
IELTS minimum by component:
6.0
We offer intensive English language pre-sessional courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
Fees and funding
All fees are subject to increase or review for subsequent academic years. Please note that not all visa routes permit part-time study and overseas students entering the UK on a Tier 4 visa will not be permitted to study on a part-time basis.
| Programme name | Study mode | Start date | UK/EU fees | Overseas fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSc Health Care Management | Full-time | Sept 2013 | £7,950 | £15,570 |
| MSc Health Care Management | PT-DR | Sept 2013 | £3,975 | £7,785 |
Programme content
Compulsory Modules
- Operational Management in Health Care
- Financial Management
- Health Care Quality Management
- Health Care Systems, Structures and Functions
- Organisational Behaviour
- Professionals in Health Care
- Health Economics
- Research Methods
- 5,000-word dissertation
Module Overview
This programme comprises eight taught modules and a research-based dissertation.
Compulsory Modules
Operational Management in Health Care
This module provides detailed insights into the concepts of managing and developing people and services. These concepts are operationalised into the management challenges of running a successful health service, and the personal development skills needed for managing change and innovation.
Financial Management
This module provides the foundations for understanding, analysing and interpreting financial information, and enables you to apply accounting principles and financial theory across management disciplines and organisations.
Health Care Quality Management
This module explores the socially constructed and therefore contested nature of health care quality and examines the implications this has for service delivery and continuous quality improvement. It focuses on management as a means to achieve quality standards and patient satisfaction.
Health Care Systems, Structures and Functions
This module explores the complex management and administrative demands of a modern health system. Its role in the programme is to apply the general management principles, learned in other prescribed modules, to health care.
Organisational Behaviour
This module integrates the study of forms, structures and processes of organisations with the human aspects of psychology at work. The module provides an insight into the fundamentals on which organisations are built and provides analytical processes for understanding behaviour at work and managerial processes.
Professionals in Health Care
An issue in all health care systems is that of working with, managing and developing professionals. This module explores a wide range of issues associated with professionals, professionalisation and organisational learning.
Health Economics
This module will introduce health economics and explore the notion of scarcity, which is as relevant in the health sector as it is in others. Whatever the level of expenditure on health care, there will always be unmet demand and it is important that these resources are applied in the best ways possible. It covers the use of markets as an allocation mechanism and looks at a range of economic evaluation methods for decision making by managers and policy makers.
Research Methods
Introducing the process of research project formulation and the key elements of research design, this module will prepare you to design and execute their research study for their dissertation in a systematic and scientific manner.
Programme Structure and Modules
Module Matrix 1 – Full-time Study
Semester 1 | Credits |
| Health Care Systems, Structures and Functions | 15 |
| Health Care Quality Management | 15 |
| Organisational Behaviour | 15 |
| Research Methods | 15 |
Semester 2 | Credits |
| Operational Management in Health Care | 15 |
| Financial Management | 15 |
| Health Economics | 15 |
| Professionals in Health Care | 15 |
| Dissertation | 60 |
Module Matrix 2 – Part-time Day Release Study
Year 1 (Semester 1) | Credits |
| Health Care Systems, Structures and Functions | 15 |
| Organisational Behaviour | 15 |
Year 1 (Semester 2) | Credits |
| Operational Management in Health Care | 15 |
| Financial Management | 15 |
Year 2 (Semester 1) | Credits |
| Health Care Quality Management | 15 |
| Research Methods | 15 |
Year 2 (Semester 2) | Credits |
| Health Economics | 15 |
| Professionals in Health Care | 15 |
| Dissertation | 60 |
Teaching and assessment
Our teaching strategy provides a combination of lectures, seminars, discussion groups, video and case study analysis. We believe that a variety of teaching methods allows us to satisfy most individual learning styles and preferences at some point in the programme. The programme is specifically designed to provide a balanced assessment strategy, because different people have different strengths and weaknesses in the various assessment options that are available. Consequently we try to ensure that you and your fellow students are exposed to a range of assessment techniques, and that you are not penalised if one particular approach does not suit your particular style.
You will tackle written assignments in the essay style, which test your ability to synthesise information and to compare and contrast theory with practical examples, as well as traditional examinations which provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate how well you can take information and solve problems under time-constrained conditions, just as you might be asked to do in the workplace.
We also recognise that in modern health care organisations, people rarely work independently; therefore some of the written and oral assessments are in pairs or groups. This allows you to develop the ‘soft’ skills of communication, coordination, teamwork, time management, and project management, all of which are increasingly important in high-performance organisations.
Industry links
We have a number of strong links with the health care sector industry. We have four visiting academic staff with strong health service delivery links including Professor Matthew Swindells, former chief policy adviser to the Secretary of State for Health and Colonel John Burgess, Assistant Director Clinical Services at the Army Primary Health Care Service. From time to time we invite managers from industry to come to talk to students about their experiences of managing health services.
International relevance
There is little doubt that globalisation brings many challenges for organisations. It is highly likely that after graduating with the MSc Health Care Management, you may spend at least part of your career interfacing with different health services. You will encounter management problems which are largely created by the cross-cultural nature of the modern health care organisation. To prepare you for this environment we have deliberately designed a programme which is truly global in terms of its content and focus and we have recruited staff with considerable international experience.
Research interests
Our research looks at four broad areas. Firstly, we are interested in the relationship between policy and transformational change both nationally and internationally.
Secondly, we are interested in patient involvement in patient safety issues. Current projects include exploring ways of developing an active role for patients in challenging and educating health professionals’ actions, as well as exploring how patients make sense of the whole safety agenda within a hospital and community setting.
Thirdly, we are interested in the role and development of managers in health care organisations. We currently have a NHS SDO-funded project which explores the role of front-line managers in health organisations.
Fourthly, we are interested in clinical informatics. We focus on how to use technology to improve the quality of health care. The two core areas are: the use of technology at the point of care; and how to use routine data to improve and measure quality.
Department links
Contact us
For general enquiries
0800 980 3200 or +44 (0)1483 681 681
For admissions enquiries
+44 (0)1483 686 300