Creating employee-owned organisations in the NHS

There is an increasing focus in the media and from politicians on 'employee ownership, 'mutual ownership', 'co-operatives', the 'John Lewis model' and 'social enterprise'. The three main political parties have all supported these organisational models in some form. Questions are being raised around how employee ownership can be used to give NHS staff greater ownership and control over their work, how services are delivered and how their organisation is run.

Presentations and talks from the conference

• Patrick Lewis: keynote speaker

Patrick Lewis, Partners Counsellor, John Lewis Partnership, talks about how John Lewis works as an employee-owned organisation.

• Rachael Addicott: NHS staff views on employee ownership and enagement

Dr Rachael Addicott, Senior Research Fellow at The King's Fund, discusses how NHS staff currently view employee ownership.

Case studies

• Ali Parsa, Company Director, Circle
• Tricia McGregor, Joint Managing Director, Central Surrey Health
• Margaret Elliot OBE, Director of Care Services, Sunderland Home Care Associates

About the conference

This conference focused on the benefits and challenges of creating employee-owned organisations in the NHS, and explored how staff can be engaged and empowered through their creation.This conference

• shared findings from a forthcoming report from The King's Fund, which explores different models of employee ownership and how these could work in the NHS
• shared practical examples of how different models of employee-owned organisations are working in the NHS
• gave delegates the chance to question experts about the circumstances in which employee-owned organisations could improve quality, reduce costs and engage staff.