Healthcare systems
Changing Policy and Practice
Professor Julie Balen from Canterbury Christ Church University has been awarded funding to disseminate the findings of her research into the impact of federalisation on the health system in Nepal.
Professors Julie Balen, Simon Rushton and their team, based across Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, PHASE Nepal, and Bournemouth, Canterbury Christ Church, Huddersfield and Sheffield Universities, studied the impact of federalisation on the health system in different provinces and regions of Nepal.
Nepal became a Federal Republic in 2015, with major changes in the organisation and management of all aspects of government, including the health system. This federalisation created new layers of government at federal, provincial and local levels, which brought benefits as well as new challenges.
The team worked closely with stakeholders involved in policy-making and healthcare delivery to understand their perspectives and experiences of this change. One key finding at provincial and local levels was the recent formation of health system leadership and governance roles, with newly appointed personnel filling these roles.
The Changing Policy and Practice Award will help Professors Balen, Rushton and team disseminate their research findings and, drawing on their participatory research methodology, facilitate a bespoke training and capacity-building programme. The programme will reach over 120 local leaders and administrators who will gain knowledge and skills in health system leadership and governance. This will, in turn, help increase the system’s capacity to manage and deliver health services in a federal Nepal.