Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management
Bridging the gap between business and healthcare, while also responding to the most pressing challenges, requires a professional willing to step up. This programme will equip you to take responsibility for nonclinical activities within public and private healthcare organisations to optimise and improve healthcare delivery.
Next intake: 2024 MarchKey Facts
Our Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management is designed to help you meet these challenges by improving your organisational and management skills. It’s intended for aspiring leaders, executives, and mid-level managers who recognise the need for change, development, and advancement in healthcare and the need for independent, conscientious, and intuitive leaders.
So, why not become one by mastering the complexities of the healthcare industry without interference to your day-to-day commitments, as this course is designed to fit around your schedule? Furthermore, for self-motivated individuals eager to learn, our online diploma in healthcare management provides excellent value for money. On a successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management, you’ll be able to demonstrate:
- Modern understanding and knowledge of management theory and practise in the context of global healthcare management systems and practise.
- Perspectives on theory and application.
- The ability to apply healthcare management knowledge and skills.
University of Buckingham
The University of Buckingham is the only independent university in the UK with a Royal Charter, and also one of the smallest with around 2,700 students, who study for honours degrees in two intensive years of study. The University houses it's own medical school and was ranked first for student satisfaction in 2018, 2019 and 2020 by the Complete University Guide.
Accreditors and Endorsers
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
This programme has been approved by The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Faculty
Programme Leader
Dr Clare Holt
Current post: Associate Professor Leadership in Healthcare
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme, NHS Leadership Academy, University of Birmingham
- Programme Lead MSc/PGDip Leadership in Healthcare, Learna Ltd/University of South...
Next intake: 2024 March Key Facts
Programme Leader
Dr Clare Holt
Current post: Associate Professor Leadership in Healthcare
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme, NHS Leadership Academy, University of Birmingham
- Programme Lead MSc/PGDip Leadership in Healthcare, Learna Ltd/University of South Wales
- Associate of Warwick Business School
- PhD Relational Leadership
- Executive Coach, AoEC
- Associate CIPD
Dr Clare Holt has worked with a variety of audiences across organizational boundaries, including middle to senior managers, company directors and CEOs, senior civil servants, politicians and peers. A creative thinker, Dr Holt strives to bridge her academic learning and research skills into practical settings across a variety of public and private organizations, particularly in all aspects of leadership in healthcare. Her focus in research, writing and teaching has involved most aspects of leadership, but predominantly features relational leadership, leading change and collaborative engagement in complex times.
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Why Study a Healthcare Management Postgraduate Diploma with Learna
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
100% Flexible
Our courses are 100% online. No fixed study times mean you can log in and learn whenever and wherever.
Multidisciplinary - study in a group of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
Affordable
No physical campus means we can offer world-leading programmes at the most competitive prices.
Get a PgDip from £3,900 or an MSc from £7,500 - the most affordable courses of their kind in the UK.
Career Boosting
Get a University Validated postgraduate qualification in just 1 calendar year instead of 2 academic years.
40% of our alumni reported an increase in salary 2 years after studying with us.
Who is this course for?
The online Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management offers emerging and aspiring executives and senior managers with a scheme of study that develops their academic, critical, reflective and practical understanding of managing complex organisations in a rapidly evolving contemporary global business environment. Subsequently, the programme aims to develop students’ capacity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to help them develop their career and take up successful managerial and leadership positions in the future.
We like students who challenge the status quo, who wake up ambitious and love working with other professionals.
It will provide students with:
- Contemporary knowledge and understanding of management theory and practice
- Theoretical and applied perspectives
- The ability to apply knowledge and skills in various organisations
How Will I Learn?
You will be supported throughout your studies by a committed team of internationally recognised educational experts.
Our courses are conducted entirely online through self-directed distance learning. You’ll receive guidance throughout your course with tutor-stimulated academic discussions, which are based on clinically-rich case scenarios.
These usually occur within groups of 10-20 students, allowing you to clearly communicate with both your tutor and fellow students.
Curriculum
The online Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management will be formed of six 20 credit modules over 12 months. Allowig you to study a variety of interesting and relevant topics.Module Aims
The aim of this module is to develop the understanding of organisational behaviour, when applied to a variety of healthcare settings, with a focus on structural and cultural environments.
Module Summary
This first module sets the foundations of Organisational Behaviour within the context of healthcare. Its focus on organisational theories and concepts is to build a greater critical understanding of prominent aspects of organisational theory and structure, the social organisation and multidisciplinary teams, and the importance of culture and motivating others.
Indicative content:
- Introduction to Organisational Behaviour
- What is an ‘Organisation’?
- The Social Healthcare Organisation
- Organisational Cultures in Healthcare
- Motivational Theory
- Human Resources
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate a critical awareness of organisational behaviours and issues in healthcare organisations informed by relevant research and novel practice in the field.
- Build an understanding of criticality and reflexivity in applying academic theories and concepts into practice.
- Demonstrate originality, insight and critical/reflective practice to solve problems and create innovative propositions related to organisational behaviours.
- Use systematic and creative approaches to address complex issues related to organisational behaviours, including undertaking critical thinking and reflective practice to provide confident judgement and apply appropriate courses of action.
- Develop skills to contribute to evidence-based decision making in order to influence organisational outcomes.
Module Aims
The overall aim of this module is to consider the different paradigms and approaches to leadership. Critically exploring the historical ‘heroic’ theories, building to the importance of collaborative and systems leadership, and applying these differing leadership perspectives of person, position and process into healthcare practice, will allow exploration and improved knowledge in leading healthcare challenges.
Module Summary
The module will delve deeper into what leadership means, exploring leadership theories to support greater critical thinking in considering what leadership means in supporting a more sustainable healthcare organisation.
Indicative content:
- Leadership versus Management
- Leadercentric’ Theories
- Followership: the other side of leadership
- Person, Position, Process, Product: collaborative leadership theories
- Power and Leadership
- Leadership challenges in Healthcare (Adaptive Leadership)
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
- Develop a critical understanding of what leadership theories mean in practice and applied in context, with a focus on the impending complex challenges facing healthcare systems.
- Building on the traditional leadership theories of the ‘person,’ critically evaluate the more advanced theoretical frameworks considering leadership as a ‘process’, recognition and insights will be shared as to why leading collaboratively has the potential to critically develop more systematic responses in suggesting new ideas to unpredictable healthcare leadership challenges.
- Building on personal experiences in leadership, apply learning to develop advanced interpersonal, team and networking skills to strategically enhance collaboration across organisational boundaries to address complex situations and contribute to the field of healthcare leadership with greater confidence.
Module Aims
The module aims to develop a systematic understanding and critical application of strategic management to ensure a responsible yet innovative and sustainable approach within the complex context of healthcare.
Module Summary
The module builds on the foundations of strategic management thinking to further develop understanding of strategy which supports innovation in healthcare. This is undertaken by exploring, critically and reflectively, contemporary approaches to enable appropriate and informed strategic decisions with a focus on sustainable development.
Indicative content:
- What is Strategy? Exploration of various definitions
- Models and frameworks: which are relevant in healthcare?
- Stakeholders and power mapping
- Contemporary issues in strategic thinking
- Strategic focus on sustainability and the future of healthcare
- Healthcare in 2050: a discussion
Learning Outcomes
- Apply a systematic understanding of strategic management, to develop a high level of critical thinking to understand the value of strategy and innovation for the future of healthcare.
- Select advanced principles and theoretical frameworks in strategic management to critically develop systematic responses to explore and develop sustainable innovation for the future of healthcare.
- Practically explore and apply strategic thinking and innovate for the future, working with stakeholders to address the complex needs and increased demands on healthcare organisations.
Module Aims
This module aims to develop students' understanding and interpretation of financial management in healthcare, to make more informed decisions to influence and assist the impact of this function on the principles and practices of healthcare management decision making.
Module Summary
To introduce and support a more comprehensive understanding of financial management in healthcare, along with being able to better interpret and apply financial statements, budgeting, costing and investment appraisal in financial and business decision making.
Indicative content:
- Introduction to financial terminology for the service sector
- Management accounting in decision making
- Sources of healthcare finance
- Budgeting and budgetary control
- The role and use of different financial statements
- Financial challenges in healthcare – discussion
Learning Outcomes
- Recognition and understanding of financial management at a local level to be more effective and efficient in providing high quality care to patients and other service users.
- Systematically analyse incomplete and/or contradictory evidence, to be better informed at influencing financial planning and contribute realistic recommendations to improve financial sustainability.
- Develop skills and knowledge to systematically organise and communicate advanced financial management to effectively and confidently use financial data to better inform healthcare stakeholders in unpredictable and complex contexts.
Module aims
The aim of this module considers the traditional philosophies and processes of marketing, then critically applies what it means in healthcare organisations - public and private. Analysing and developing a comprehensive understanding as to how marketing in the service sector of healthcare is potentially more about communication and setting expectations, the importance of ethics will also be explored in recognition of the expanse of stakeholders, departments and specialisms.
Module Summary
This module is designed to challenge the traditional concept of marketing to critically analyse what it means to communicate with stakeholders across healthcare organisations, exploring what is meant by a communication strategy and what is involved in better engaging the public.
Indicative content:
- What is marketing? Philosophy or Process?
- Marketing in the healthcare context: Ethics and Expectations
- ‘Consumers’ and evaluating the market
- Developing communication and marketing strategies in healthcare
- Social-media in marketing – audience and ethics
- Organising, implementing and controlling marketing in healthcare
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
- Consider the importance of developing and delivering a comprehensive marketing strategy, analysing the impact and ethics on the diverse mix of stakeholders.
- Build on experience and skills to critically explore how marketing frameworks can be adapted to influence internal and external communications in healthcare organisations.
- Through research and discussing practical experiences, hone skills to think how marketing and communication can be better targeted to influence the required audience via the appropriate media, using the appropriate language to communicate during unpredictable healthcare management situations.
Module aims
This module aims to explore how to effectively manage and lead change within complex healthcare organisations. Taking into account some of the traditional change management theories, these will then be critically applied in addressing the inhibitors to change, along with gaining insights into some of the important drivers for change. These include why is the ‘change’ necessary’, change in line with quality improvement (especially in line with patient/user safety) and the importance of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity.
Module Summary
This module will cover the more popular models and theories of change management, while systematically being encouraged to critically evaluate their practice and process of applying them in healthcare organisations, whilst addressing the challenges of effective long term change.
Indicative content:
- Change Management theories
- What are the inhibitors to change?
- Drivers for change: Why change?
- Drivers for change: Clinical Governance
- Drivers for change: Patient safety and quality improvement
- Drivers for change: Diversity and Inclusivity
Learning Outcomes
- Appraise the impact of a variety of organisational change theories, recognising why change can be so complex in the context of prevailing social, economic and health care systems.
- Critically apply theories and practical examples to evaluate methods of leading effective and relevant change to benefit the future of healthcare.
- By considering why change is necessary and what inhibits change, critically discuss effective techniques in line with how to influence and drive complex and innovative change in healthcare.
Assessment Methods
There are three components of assessment to assess the learning outcomes of each taught module. These test different elements of learning including critical analysis, management skills, professional reflection and independent/community of practice based study.
Scenarios reflective of day-to-day work situations will be presented for students to consider and answer every week. Students critically discuss the concepts within their online group discussion forum facilitated throughout the module by their tutor and marked by them at the end of the module.
Students learn by finding relevant literature, reading and critically appraising it; discussing it within the discussion forum and applying it critically to real world examples and your own practice. The content of the scenario is based on the learning outcomes for the module.
The scenarios, reflective portfolio and the group work is carried on as the module progresses which ensures engagement throughout the module.
The reflective journal is used by students throughout each module to monitor personal progress. This is guided by weekly feedback from your tutor and is graded at the end of every module. The journal typically includes the following:
- Initial expectations and reasons for taking the course.
- Module and/or personal learning objectives.
- Description of events, issues and learning points within current personal practice.
- Change in every day practice due to knowledge gained on each module.
- A description of what has been learned during the module.
At the beginning of each module, students are presented with a module assignment. The module activity may take the form of an individual piece of work, such as an essay on a relevant topic, or may be a group activity, such as the creation of a marketing plan. This activity tests a student's ability to work independently or work within a team: to select, sift and analyse information, interact with colleagues and apportion group member’s roles and derive a solution to the module task.
The diverse assessment methods within each module are designed to test the expected characteristics of Masters graduates. These include critical awareness of current issues and developments in leadership, critical skills, knowledge of professional responsibility, integrity and ethics and the ability to reflect on their own progress as a learner.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
Our digital doors are open to both local and international students from diverse educational and social backgrounds. We offer no international surcharge and believe having a multi-disciplinary and multi-national cohort is best for student development. Typically, applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management will:
- Hold a minimum of a 2.1 degree
- Possess a degree (i.e. a minimum of a 2.1) awarded by a UK university or overseas equivalent
- Have 2 years' management experience
- Ability to communicate their ideas effectively - In some cases, applicants may be asked to submit a piece of work for assessment in order to confirm that they are able to work comfortably at postgraduate level and demonstrate the requisite professional knowledge.
- Basic IT skills
e.g. word-processing, email and internet will also be expected. - English Language
If English is not your first language, you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of English language skills:
- IELTS: 6.5 with 5.5 minimum in each skill
- Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE): Grade C or above
- Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE): Grade B or above
- Pearson Test of English (Academic): 60 with 51 in each component
- IBT TOEFL: 90 with no subtest less than 17
Course Fees
Option 1: Upfront Payment in full. Option 2: Interest free payments every other month for the duration of the course.
| Date | Instalments | Up-Front Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | £1480 | £4,980 |
| 1st November 2023 | £925 | |
| 1st January 2024 | £925 | |
| 1st March 2024 | £925 | |
| 1st May 2024 | £925 | |
| 1st July 2024 | £925 |
† Deposits are non-refundable
†† Prices are subject to review following each intake
Option 3: Lower your monthly payments by spreading the cost for between 2 and 8 years with a loan from our lending partner Lendwise*.
*Subject to eligibility criteria.
Learna | Diploma MSc has a partnership with Lendwise which is a leading private student loan provider, to help UK students fund their course fees should they require financing. Lendwise is a UK-based education finance platform through which candidates can fund their postgraduate and professional qualification studies at leading educational institutions.
A Lendwise loan comes with a fixed interest rate for the duration of the loan (between 2 and 8 years) and no early repayment penalties. The interest rate offered will depend on the overall applicant profile and the application process is entirely online.*
*Other sources of funding are available.
Learna | Diploma MSc does not offer financial advice, recommend or endorse any financial product. You should always check the suitability of the product that is of interest to you. If you are in any doubt as to its suitability, we suggest that you seek independent professional advice.
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We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online diploma courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
Our courses are some of the most affordable of their kind, providing value for money without compromising on quality. We also don't apply an international surcharge. No fixed timetable means you can log in & learn on the go, at your convenience.
Being totally online means we can select the very best tutors and resource editors, no matter where they’re located.
Connect with multidisciplinary people around the world to expand your insights & broaden your career prospects.
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