On first impressions this book looks like something which was published in the ’70s with its orange, brown and yellow ochre cover; not to mention the photograph of an old fashioned PC keyboard.
Despite the less than enticing start I entered the realms of a book claiming to explore the discipline of Project Management in the healthcare environment. The intrigue began…
First of all, David takes us through a brief description of the different departments in the hospital environment before taking the reader through an overview of what a project is, what the project lifecycle is, the history of project management, project management in the healthcare environment – are you starting to get the picture? There is very little reference to any specifics of PM in healthcare until the end of the book. I understand a need to set the scene and explain elements of PM to a reader who may not come from a PM background. However, I began to feel like I was reading an APM textbook or similar.
The limited references to healthcare were generally when giving an example, so I didn’t feel I was learning anything new about Healthcare PM – other than what I have seen in the public domain regarding NHS programmes of work over the past few years, which haven’t gained notoriety through success on the whole.
One area covered in the book about communications is quite useful for those looking to move into this sector that has little exposure to the hierarchical structures within healthcare. However as with all project environments – communication is crucial, so there is nothing groundbreaking.
In summary the book lightly touches on the healthcare sector and more heavily lays on the project management – the detail it provides is easy to read and would make an excellent read for someone looking for an understanding of PM processes. In fact it would make a good reference book for those new to PM needing assistance in managing a project as it is a good breakdown into bite size sections. The healthcare references and brief scenarios/examples may help those in the profession new to projects contextualise. For those who have spent many an hour with their heads in PMBoKs and OGC textbooks – it doesn’t bring much more to the table.
