Marketing of NHS Services - The additional 3Ps and Service Quality

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Marketing of NHS Services – The additional 3Ps and Service Quality

1.0 Introduction

Set up just over 50 years ago, the NHS is the largest organisation in Europe. (7 Dec 2002, www.nhs.uk) It is a state run, not-for-profit establishment, offering direct, primary and secondary care.

It is a professional, labour-intensive and high-contact service, which is carried out by a service provider such as a doctor or nurse, thus also making it a primary service.

Marketing is “as important in health care as in business.” (Caroline Ashley, 1998) As well as the traditional “four P’s” considered in a traditional marketing plan, being a service, the NHS must also consider the additional three: people, processes and physical evidence.

“The process of delivering a service involves a chain of related services and servers and the successful enactment of a wide range of behaviours.” (Solomon et al., 1985; Zeithaml et al., 1990 cited in Dobni. D et al., 1997). It is essential that quality control procedures be in place throughout the chain, to ensure quality service outputs.

2.0 People

2.1 Role of the Employee

“The inseparable nature of services means that the human element forms an intrinsic part of the services package,” (Woodruffe, 1995) thus making the role of the employee extremely important. “Approximately 1,166,000 people work for the NHS,” (The Department of Health, cited in the Guardian, 2002) accounting for an enormous proportion of total costs.

“Customer perceptions of quality are frequently influenced directly by the actions of service personnel.” (Woodruffe, 1995) Therefore, due to the intangible nature of the NHS and the subsequently high levels of customer-producer interaction, “people” are the most important “P” within the marketing mix.

2.2 Internal Marketing

Defined by Berry, (1980, cited in Palmer, 2001) internal marketing is “the means of applying the philosophy and practices of marketing to people who serve the external customers so that the best possible people can be employed and retained and they will do the best possible work.”

Internal marketing strategies within the NHS include:

A mission statement, giving employees clear objectives and a sense of vision.
Internal communication, through a staff newsletter (See additional information from presentation) and regular team briefings (PCT visit, 2002). This prevents non-office based staff from becoming isolated.
Training programmes, which build on staff skills and add to the overall quality of service whilst allowing the employees to better themselves and their career prospects.
Empowerment of staff, achieved through increased responsibility of employees and less bureaucratic processes.

(Dec 2002, )

2.3 Recruitment/Selection

The NHS must ensure they recruit the best staff, due to the importance of customer-employee interactions. Hence the strict recruitment process:

Application – Ensures potential employees have the necessary qualifications.
References – All new employees provide references from previous employers to ensure they are reliable.
Interviews – Ensures the recruit shares the beliefs and values of the organisation and the personality traits required for a caring profession.
Health checks – NHS employees come into direct physical contact with customers and potentially contagious diseases must be addressed in order to assure quality standards.
Security checks – Consumers of NHS services are often dependant on their service provider and therefore employees must be trustworthy.
Induction/Probation periods – There exists no room for mistakes in the NHS, so a new recruit must be taught the processes and procedures necessary for the provision of the service.

(www.doh.gov.uk)

The

NHS is specialised and demands highly skilled employees. “Demand for certain skills outstrips supply,” (Woodruffe, 1995) resulting in an inadequate supply of labour for doctors and nurses. This is

overcome by in-service training, and recruiting doctors and nurses from abroad.

(Geldman. A., 2002)

2.4

Motivation

Motivation is “some inner drive, impulse etc that causes one to act in a certain way.” (Collins Dictionary, 1984) Motivated staff perform better, yet to remain motivated they must be rewarded. Rewards can be either financial, or non-financial, such as, within the NHS,

the knowledge that they are helping people.

(Palmer, 2001 and UTC, 2002, )

Because the NHS is government run there are budgetary restrictions on financial rewards, so staff are motivated through training opportunities and empowerment.

2.5 Training

The “Lifelong Learning” training programme has recently been introduced within the NHS.

(www.doh.gov.uk)

is should result in empowerment and motivation for staff and subsequently a better service. The risk is that once staff are trained, they will move to the better-paid private healthcare sector, and those resources invested in their skills will be ...