Navigating the NHS

* What is NHS purchasing and where is it going? * What are the resource implications of shared care policies? * Why are casemix and clinical coding important in pricing contracts? * What should be the role of marketing in the NHS? * Where should a medical director's loyality lie? These are the sort of questions which clinical staff at all levels in today's NHS are expected to grasp. Navigating the NHS provides the answers. The full range of current management issues is explored, and each topic is presented clearly and concisely by authors with expert knowledge and experience. Navigating the NHS is written for the uninitiated, who need to absorb the central arguments rapidly. It is ideal for those seeking promotion. But the calibre fo the contributions is such that clinicians who already have considerable managerial responsibilities and even health service managers themselves will find it fascinating, challenging and enlightening.

Peter Lees

Introduction. Where are we now? The NHS in the mid-1990s. An introduction to priority setting in the NHS. What is NHS purchasing, and where is it going? Marketing and the NHS. Casemix, coding and contracting: a beginner's guide. Shared care or integrated care? Managing clinical services for chronic disease across the interfaces. Managing quality through outcome measurement and audit. Towards evidence-based practice: the role of research and development, training and education. Continuing medical education: a fundamental balancing act. Management arrangements in NHS Trusts. The medical director: corporate player, not representative role. The clinical director: poacher turned gamekeeper? The Future.