Research is becoming more and more essential in recent years as regulators move to adopt risk and evidence-based decision-making processes and strive to develop innovative policies that protect the public and address their most urgent challenges.
But as resources are often limited and stretched thin, it’s not always possible for regulators to hire a third-party research firm or academic institution to conduct research on their behalf. In this case, how can they gain the knowledge and insights needed to develop effective regulatory interventions and ensure those policies are working as intended?
Kieran Walshe believes regulators have a great opportunity to develop their own in-house capacity to do meaningful research and evaluation. The Professor of Health Policy and Management at Manchester Business School has been a leading researcher in health care for over three decades, exploring the intersection of research, policy, and practice to engage with policy and practitioner communities and to put ideas into action.
Walshe recently joined Paul Leavoy on Ascend Radio to discuss the benefits regulators can gain by building in-house research capacity and how any regulator – regardless of their size and resources – can get started.
Their conversation touched on topics such as:
- Why Walshe believes regulators need in-house research capabilities and how they benefit from them.
- How research can be transferred across different regulatory domains.
- Real-world examples of how regulators in the U.K. have used research to improve their impact and effectiveness.
- Simple steps regulators of any size can take to build research capacity within their organizations.
- Notable findings from Walshe’s decades of experience in health policy, health management, and health services research.
To learn more about Walshe’s research, check out these resources:
- “‘You’re just a locum’: professional identity and temporary workers in the medical profession” – a research paper by Walshe and colleagues that studied the implications of temporary working for the medical profession, health care organizations, and patient safety.
- “How do Care Quality Commission hospital inspections measure up?” – a blog co-authored by Walshe on research he conducted with The King’s Fund on the Care Quality Commission’s new regulatory approach to hospital inspections.
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