Tuberculosis care in Stockholm : An organizational analysis based on staff perception

Sammanfattning: In an increasingly more interconnected world, the importance of epidemiology in public and international health is rapidly increasing. Tuberculosis is one of the diseases that contributes to this, as its lengthy incubation time and annual high mortality count makes it one of the toughest bacteria for the medical community to combat. Sweden is today a low-endemic region but still suffers a number of cases each year. The majority of these infections have occurred abroad. This qualitative study aims evaluate the Swedish healthcare systems organizational structure in relation to the treating and tracking of tuberculosis. Key personnel from several different units working with diagnosing, treating and tracking of tuberculosis have been interviewed about their perception regarding the organizational structure. The data have been analyzed through H. Mintzbergs theoretical framework regarding organizational structure. The analysis shows that the current system can be described as an Adhocracy. The organization is highly capable of handling adjustment and producing unique and complex outputs in the form of individualized treatment plans and disease tracking efforts. However, the system is highly dependent on internal communication and has great difficulty in up-scaling and expanding. The study shows that the current system would be challenged by a sharp increase in tuberculosis-cases in Stockholm.