Loyalty in the NHS
29 April 2008
Publication name: The Times, p2
With NHS hospitals now actively seeking 'customers', the time has come for marketing to play a strategic role in the Health Service. This doesn't mean the NHS should mimic Tesco's marketing strategy, says David Thorp of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, but that "we should aspire to gain the loyalty that Tesco wins from its marketing". Patient experience is all-important, and must be improved so that patients return to their preferred hospital when necessary.