Abstract
Background: Increasing demands on general practice to manage chronic disease may warrant organisational change at the practice level. Staff's readiness for organisational change can act as a facilitator or barrier to implementing interventions aimed at organisational change.
Objectives: To explore general practice staff readiness for organisational change and its association with staff and practices characteristics.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of practices in three Australian states involved in a randomised control trial on the effectiveness of an intervention to enhance the role of non-general practitioner staff in chronic disease management. Readiness for organisational change, job satisfaction and practice characteristics were assessed using questionnaires.
Results: 502 staff from 58 practices completed questionnaires. Practice characteristics were not associated with staff readiness for change. A multilevel regression analysis showed statistically significant associations between staff readiness for organisational change (range 1 to 5) and having a non-clinical staff role (vs general practitioner; B=-0.315; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.16; p<0.001), full-time employment (vs part-time; B=0.175, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.29; p<0.01) and lower job satisfaction (B=-0.277, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.15; p<0.001).
Conclusions: The results suggest that different approaches are needed to facilitate change which addresses the mix of practice staff. Moderately low job satisfaction may be an opportunity for organisational change.
