Relational care management workshop
In this interactive workshop we’ll explore the enablers and barriers to relational care, and the steps needed to address them.
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About the workshop
In health and care, so much depends on the quality of relationships – patients to staff, teams to teams, communities to services. Strong relationships between patients and staff, for example, are critical to building trust and getting to the root cause of complex conditions.
But there is also a place for more transactional interactions. Sometimes patients just need a system that delivers a service in a consistent, reliable way.
The question is how do we find the right balance between them and create care services that value and invest in both the relational and transactional? All too often the balance is skewed, and relational working is starved of time, space and resources. And this question is increasingly important as we seek to reform the NHS into something that’s fit for the future.
Drawing on a research project and recent report by Q members Catherine Harrison and Bryan Jones, this interactive workshop will explore:
- The case for improving and spreading relational care across health and healthcare services
- The enablers of and barriers to the delivery of relational care
- The steps needed to improve and spread relational care and achieve a better balance between relational and transactional care.
The session will involve attendees answering prompt questions around relational care with the option of feeding back in the main group. These participant contributions will form an important part of the next stage of research that Bryan and Catherine are leading.
What you’ll learn
- Why improving and spreading relational care is a priority
- Why a better balance between relational and transactional care is necessary
- Hear from others and share your own experience about how relational is being delivered in your organisation or local area and what needs to change to improve and spread relational care
- Overview of key themes from the recent research and an introduction to the next phase of work
Who should attend?
Everyone who is interested in relational services is welcome. The session may be particularly useful for:
- Anyone with a commitment to implementing relational care
- Clinicians and patients who feel strongly about the issue
- People with operational, finance and governance background who can help understand and address some of persistent barriers to delivering relational care in mainstream settings.
Speakers
Catherine (Cat) has over 20 years experience at a senior level, influencing and successfully implementing change. Her career has spanned national policy, communications and the human side of leadership – a combination that enables her to translate big‑picture strategy into grounded, people‑centred action.
She has led peer learning programmes designed to support NHS trust boards to lead through complex change, and has experience working with all sectors in healthcare at a national level including via two national patient safety campaigns commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Catherine has advised senior officials on leadership, improvement, quality and safety policy on behalf of CEOs and other NHS trust board members.
She holds the Certificate in Coaching for Leadership: Psychodynamic Approaches – Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) Accredited and is an ILM recognised action learning facilitator. She is a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), an Expert‑in‑Residence at the Imperial Enterprise Lab and an Associate Coach for the NHS Aspiring Directors programme.
She partners with organisations as a leadership coach and researcher.
Since joining the Health Foundation over a decade ago, I’ve focused on how healthcare provider organisations are led and managed and how they go about driving change at scale. My research draws on the experiences of providers in the NHS, the US and Europe and examines the myriad of interconnecting factors that underpin the success of high-performing, improvement driven organisations. I also have a broader interest in NHS reform and how the service equips itself in the next decade to meet the challenges posed by economic, demographic and societal changes.
Overview of the workshop
- Welcome and introduction
- Presentation: Why improving and spreading relational care is a priority (drawing on Bryan and Catherine’s recent research)
- Breakout session 1: Describing relational care
- Short presentation: Examples of relational care management in practice
- Breakout session 2: Improving relational care
- Closing remarks
Accessibility
We provide captions for all our online events.
If you need any other adjustments to help you to participate please let us know using the form when you register or email Adriana Thursby-Pelham.
Resources
- Opinion piece: Looking at NHS reform differently: From the inside out
- Collection of resources: Relational services
Book your place
Discover more
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Relational Services Resources
Toolkit 9 June 2026 10 minute readA collection of resources, articles, webinar recordings and ways to connect with others to support more person-centred, learning-focused approaches to care and system improvement. -
Looking at NHS reform differently: From the inside out
Opinion piece 16 April 2026 6 minute readDrawing from their research, Q members Catherine Harrison and Bryan Jones explain how redressing the balance between transactional systems and relational care could support NHS reform.