Visit the Howse Jackson Marketing web site
Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: Trade associations and professional bodies
News Release from: The Chartered Institute of Marketing
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial Team on 22 October 2007

NHS attitudes to marketing need to
change

Request your FREE weekly copy of the Marketingservicestalk email newsletter. News about Trade associations and professional bodies and more every issue. Click here for details.

The need to change attitudes towards marketing in the NHS was discussed at a Masterclass given by The Chartered Institute of Marketing at the Association of Healthcare Communicators' conference.

David Thorp, director of research and information at The Institute, drew on recent research into the role of marketing in the NHS to look at how increasing competition and commercialisation are affecting the way it operates Patient choice and 'Payment by Results' make it necessary for managers to develop a commercial mindset and understand how employing marketing techniques can help develop a patient-led service

But achieving this requires a change in attitude towards marketing.

"If NHS managers do not understand how marketing can help, then they are working with one hand tied behind their backs," said Thorp.

"To be commercial they have to put the patient first - to do this means understanding patients' needs and delivering on them, but the attitude towards marketing has to actively change if this is to happen".

In his Masterclass, Thorp discussed the four major steps that need to be taken if commercialisation is to become a reality.

First, the NHS must ensure that it listens to its customers and a process needs to be put into place to capture and exploit customer insights.

Secondly, true choice only comes with knowledge of all the possibilities and their alternatives.

NHS patients need a constant and meaningful supply of accessible information; providing this is a given for a patient-led service.

Thirdly, these will lead nowhere if NHS employees do not understand what a patient-led service means in practice and what their part is in delivering it.

New customer-focused skills and competencies will need to be developed and embedded.

Finally, it is vital that Health Trusts begin to recruit staff with appropriate commercial skills capable of delivering the vision and developing the next generation of health service commercial specialists.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing: contact details and other news
Email this article to a colleague
Register for the free Marketingservicestalk email newsletter
Marketingservicestalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Visit the Pro-Talk web site
Visit the Howse Jackson Marketing web site