The NHS reforms. Conditions for successful change

The NHS Review has proposed the most radical organisational change in health care since the inception of the service itself in 1948. Yet, the problems entailed in gaining acceptance for reforms of such magnitude are scarcely touched on in the white paper. The scale and strength of opposition which the proposals have subsequently met within the NHS have shown clearly that the issue of the management of change is likely to be central in the acceptance or otherwise of the proposals and subsequently their success or failure. Donald Forster and Roger Hadley outline the framework within which the issues posed by change can be analysed and assessed. In keeping with the government's preference for a management perspective, they emphasise insights from the literature on the management of change rather than the detail of the white paper.