Marketing by providers increases

Providers may need to market their services more; patients will become more influential in choosing providers. Increased marketing may impact the nursing workforce in many ways, such as employers with differing terms and conditions.

As health and social care services open up to more and more private providers, potential and current providers will increasingly need to market their services, while patients will be more directly influential in choosing and paying providers.

Nursing could be impacted in many ways. Potential impacts include diversification of employers with differing terms and conditions; or role requirements and career pathway differences. More people may buy social care or cheaper healthcare rather than pay for highly qualified nurses with specialised knowledge and experience.

Outcomes for patients' health are uncertain and high risk, with implications for education and training, planning, and supply and demand. Demand and supply may become more susceptible to market trends and increasingly dependent on take up of services. This may make education and training planning, and workforce planning, more difficult, as decision makers may need to take into account higher levels of uncertainty than with the traditional NHS model.

Sources or references

• Suggested by number of stakeholders in workshops during CfWI research on nursing.
• From unpublished CfWI report (report available on request).

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.