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Realising the Business Case for Diversity: A Realist Perspective on the British National Health Service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2014

Martin Powell  and
Nick Johns
Martin Powell
Affiliation:
Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham E-mail: [email protected]
Nick Johns
Affiliation:
School of Social Science, Cardiff University E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article takes a novel approach to exploring the business case for diversity (BCD) as it has been adopted in the British National Health Service (NHS), principally in terms of ‘race’ and ethnicity for the sake of clarity and manageability. It draws on realist perspectives that consider issues of context, mechanism and outcome. It concludes that transferring policies from other countries and sectors is problematic, and consequently that the application of the BCD to the NHS must be treated with extreme caution.

Keywords

Diversitybusiness case for diversity (BCD)equal opportunity and diversity (EOD)National Health Servicerealistic evaluation
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 161 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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