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Multiple Dimensions of Work Intensity: Ambulance Work as Edgework

Author

Listed:
  • Edward Granter

    (University of Manchester, UK)

  • Paresh Wankhade

    (Edge Hill University, UK)

  • Leo McCann

    (University of Manchester, UK)

  • John Hassard

    (University of Manchester, UK)

  • Paula Hyde

    (University of Manchester, UK)

Abstract

Working life in public sector professions is undergoing significant change and becoming increasingly demanding. This article explores work intensity in NHS ambulance services in England, describing four distinct but interrelated dimensions of intensity: temporal; physical; emotional; and organizational. We use the concept of edgework to explore the complexities involved in how emergency workers attempt to negotiate the rewards and risks associated with multidimensional work intensity. Although certain parts of ambulance work may be intrinsically intense and can provide an important source of validation, organizational elements have the potential to push work intensity to unnecessary extremes. Ambulance services are ‘professionalizing’, but as work in ambulance trusts continues to intensify, issues over dignity, staff retention and the meaning of work are becoming ever more challenging, just as they are in other public service professions.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward Granter & Paresh Wankhade & Leo McCann & John Hassard & Paula Hyde, 2019. "Multiple Dimensions of Work Intensity: Ambulance Work as Edgework," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(2), pages 280-297, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:280-297
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017018759207
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Leo McCann & Edward Granter & Paula Hyde & John Hassard, 2013. "Still Blue-Collar after all these Years? An Ethnography of the Professionalization of Emergency Ambulance Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5), pages 750-776, July.
    2. Leo McCann & Jonathan Morris & John Hassard, 2008. "Normalized Intensity: The New Labour Process of Middle Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 343-371, March.
    3. Nurok, Michael & Henckes, Nicolas, 2009. "Between professional values and the social valuation of patients: The fluctuating economy of pre-hospital emergency work," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 504-510, February.
    4. Paresh Wankhade, 2012. "Different cultures of management and their relationships with organizational performance: evidence from the UK ambulance service," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 381-388, September.
    5. Stephen Ackroyd & Sharon Bolton, 1999. "It is not Taylorism: Mechanisms of Work Intensification in the Provision of Gynaecological Services in a NHS Hospital," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 13(2), pages 369-387, June.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Karen Willis & Paulina Ezer & Sophie Lewis & Marie Bismark & Natasha Smallwood, 2021. "“Covid Just Amplified the Cracks of the System”: Working as a Frontline Health Worker during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-15, September.
    3. Sara Chaudhry & Emily Yarrow & Maryam Aldossari & Elizabeth Waterson, 2021. "An NHS Doctor’s Lived Experience of Burnout during the First Wave of Covid-19," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(6), pages 1133-1143, December.

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