Marketing for Health Services: A Framework for Communications, Evaluation and Total Quality Management

Recent government reforms of the National Health Service have focused attention on the concept of the NHS as a business operating through "internal markets" leading the NHS to adopt business and commercial practices - including marketing. This book introduces the principles of marketing in the NHS, explaining the differences and similarities between NHS and orthodox commercial marketing. Whilst NHS marketing does provide a means for "selling" NHS services to consumers, the book shows that it involves much more, explaining how accreditation, clinical audit, communications, insectoral planning, health promotion and quality assurance can be developed and co-ordinated through NHS marketing activity. The book relates all these activities to service contracting and shows how NHS marketing differs for Health Authorities, Self-Governing Trusts and directly-managed NHS services. Many of the issues explained by the book are also relevant to other welfare services provided free at the point of use or through an "internal market", such as local authority social services. The book will also be of interest to health service professionals, managers and students of health policy, management and marketing.